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MEMORIAL ADDRESSES 



LIFE AND CHARACTER 



U 



WILLIAM STOKES 

i L . ■' >m S i ;a). 



DELIVERED IN 1 HE 



HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AND SENATE, 



FIFTY-SEVENTH CONGRESS, 

First Session. 



WASHINGTON: 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 

1 |02 



E 






JA.N 13 
D, ofD. 



TABLE OF CONTEXTS. 



Page. 

Proceedings in the House of Representatives 5 

Address of Mr. Lever, of South Carolina 

Address of Mr. Hay, of Virginia 22 

Address of Mr. De Armond, of Missouri -'1 

Address of Mr. Jenkins, of Wisconsin 28 

Address of Mr. Williams, of Mississippi 3° 

Address of Mr. Elliott, of South Carolina 33 

Address of Mr. Wadsworth, of New York 37 

Address of Mr. Scarborough, of South Carolina ;•," 

Address of Mr. Gilbert, of Kentucky 44 

Address of Mr. Richardson, of Tennessee 47 

Address of Mr. Johnson, of South Carolina .So 

Address of Mr. Lamb, of Virginia 5 2 

Address of Mr. Thomas, of North Carolina 57 

Address of Mr. Candler, of Mississippi 60 

Address of Mr. Talbert, of South Carolina 66 

Address of Mr. McCall, of Massachusetts % ~ '■■ 

Address of Mr. Small, of North Carolina 75 

Proceedings in the Senate 79 

Address of Mr. Tillman, of South Carolina 83 

Address of Mr. Mcl.aurin, of South Carolina 90 



Death of Hon. J. William Stokes. 



Proceedings in the House. 

January 13, 1902. 

Mr. LEVER. Mr. Speaker, it becomes my sad duty to 
announce to this House the death of my distinguished prede- 
cessor, Hon. J. William Stokes, late a Representative of 
South Carolina from the Seventh Congressional district. His 
death occurred at his home in Orangeburg, S. C, on the morn- 
ing of the 6th of July last. Mr. Speaker, in his death this 
House has lost a valuable and attentive member, his district 
an able and earnest Representative, and his State a Christian 
citizen. I offer the following resolutions: 

The Clerk read as follows: 

Resolved, That the House has heard with profound sorrow of the death 
of Hon. J. William Stokes, late a Representative from the State of 
South Carolina. 

Resolved, That as a mark of respect to his memory the House do now 
adjourn. 

Resolved, That the Clerk communicate these resolutions to the Senate. 

The resolutions were unanimously agreed to; and accordingly 
i at 4 o'clock and 55 minutes p. in. ) the House adjourned. 

March 18, 1902. 

Mr. LEVER. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that 

Saturday, April 26, beginning at 1 o'clock p. m., be set aside 

for eulogies on the Hon. J. William Stokks, late a member 

of this House from South Carolina. 

5 



6 Proceedings in the House. 

The Speaker. The gentleman from South Carolina asks 
unanimous consent that April 26 next, at 1 o'clock p. in., be 
set aside for eulogies on the late Representative Stokes, of 
South Carolina. Is there objection 5 [After a pause.] The 
Chair hears none, and it is so ordered. 



MEMORIAL ADDRESSES. 

April 26, 1902. 

Mr. Lever. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to now 
call up the special order for to-day. being the eulogies upon the 
late J. William Stokes, former Representative from the State 
of South Carolina. 

The Speaker. The gentleman from South Carolina, by 
reason of the fact that we are within fifteen minutes of the time 
set for the special order, asks unanimous consent that the 
House now proceed to take up the special order, being eulogies 
upon our late colleague, Mr. Stokes. Is there objection? 

There was no objection. 

Mr. Lever. Mr. Speaker. I submit the following resolu- 
tions. 

The Clerk read as follows: 

Resolved, That the business of the House lie now suspended that oppor- 
tunity may be given for tributes to the memory of Hon. J. William 
Stokes, late a member of the House of Representatives from the State of 
South Carolina. 

Resolved. That as a particular mark of respect to the memory of the 
deceased, and in recognition of his eminent abilities as a distinguished 
public servant, the House, at the conclusion of these memorial proceed- 
ings, shall stand adjourned. 

Resolved, That the Clerk communicate these resolutions to the Senate. 

Resolved, That the Clerk be instructed to send a copy of these resolu- 
tions to the family of the deceased. 

The Speaker. The question is on agreeing to the resolu- 
tions. 

The question was taken, and the resolutions agreed to. 



Life and Character off. William Stokes. 



Address of Mr. Lever, of South Carol:' 

Mr. Speaker: To-day the ordinary functions of the greatest 
legislative body on earth are suspended in order that members 
of this House desiring the privilege may each add his sincere 
tribute to the memory of our departed friend. The right to 
add a single flower to the chaplet which garlands the brow of 
goodness and greatness is esteemed a high prerogative. 

For the time all else is merged into the desire to do full duty 
to the dead, and, at the same time, leave to posterity a correct 
record of the life and character of the subject of our eulogy. 
The universality and sincerity of our sorrow buries all differ- 
ences, harmonizes all discords, obliterates all partisan or sec- 
tional lines, and each of us is glad to add his testimony of the 
sterling worth of the great dead. 

To me the sorrow is intensified by the deep personal loss I 
feel. His wise counsel, personal and sympathetic interest in 
my welfare, and his almost paternal guidance made whatever 
success I have attained in life a possibility, and the reverence I 
feel for his memory can not find expression. To me he was 
the ideal Christian statesman and truth-loving gentleman, and 
I can pay him no higher eulogy than to recite the unvarnished 
story nf his life — its struggles, its hopes, its triumphs, its 
virtues. 

J. William Stokes, the first son of James .Stokes, was born 
near Orangeburg City, S. C, on December 12, 1853. 

He came of an ancestry of planters, his immediate progenitor 
being a successful farmer and mill man. His intense love for 
farming as an occupation and his interest in the fanner as a 
class are the intensified and crystallized feelings of his ancestry. 



Address of Mr. Lever, of South Carolina. 9 

an exemplification of the predilections of generations of his 
family. To him the farm was the nursery of greatness and 
goodness, the farmer the ideal of independence, morality, and 
civic virtue, most nearly combining in correct proportion the 
elements entering into the compositions of active Christian 
citizenship. The philosophy of his public efforts was that the 
happiness and prosperity of the American farmer meant the 
contentment and well-being of the American people. 

As a boy he was industrious and intelligent in his work, 
obedient to his parents — doing the odds and ends of farm work 
with that readiness and system afterwards so characteristic of 
the man. 

In the country and village schools he showed a quick and 
investigating mind, given more to searching for reasons than to 
accepting conclusions it did not understand. Mathematics was 
his favorite study, though he loved the mysteries of logic and 
reasoned with great clearness and precision. This prejudice in 
favor of the more strenuous branches marked his entire course 
in college and university, and showed its full development in 
the winning of the Taylor scholarship in mathematics, a prize 
much coveted, both in point of honor and money value, at 
Washington and Lee University, which institution he entered 
at the age of 19, graduating therefrom with the honors of his 
class — a rare distinction. 

By earnest application to work, faithfulness to friends and 
the precepts of right and truth, by his unassuming though 
dignified deportment, the strength of intellect and character, 
he won the confidence and esteem alike of his fellow-students 
and the faculty. He was an enthusiastic college man, filled 
with the college spirit, and took an active part in its athletics, 
society, and class work, and in the work of the Young Men's 
Christian Association and Bible classes. In none of these did 
he take second place. 



ro Life and Character of J. William Stokes. 

His diploma meant more to him than an evidence of his 
having completed certain prescribed studies: it meant his vic- 
tor} - over almost insurmountable obstacles. The South lay 
stunned, her future uncertain, her labor demoralized, her gov- 
ernments unstable and unsatisfactory, the life and property 
of her citizens insecure, and investments apprehensive and 
development at a standstill. The social and political status of 
millions of former slaves had been changed: society was in 
chaos; opulence found itself reduced to poverty; money was 
scarcely to be had at all. and never except at the most exorbi- 
tant rates of interest. 

Xii State suffered more of these'horrors than South Carolina, 
and the devastations overtook all and fell especially heavy 
upon the father of young Stokks. leaving him entirely unable 
to aid his son in getting a college training. No young man 
ever faced a darker future, nor did anyone ever meet it with 
more self-reliance and Christian fortitude. Possessed of that 
pluck that snaps its finger at difficulty, he managed to effect a 
loan, paying 12 per cent interest, and with this borrowed 
money completed his education, repaying it after his gradu- 
ation. Thus early the indomitable courage of the man showed 
itself in the invincible spirit of the boy. 

Leaving the university with most convincing testimonials of 
merit from president and professors, lie easily secured the first 
position he sought — ass iciate principal, afterwards president, of 
a fine school in Tennessee. During this first work his trials 
were enough to overcome a less brave man. The president of 
the school died, leaving unpaid the salaries of all his assistants, 
Mr. STOKES included. Upon his accession to the principal- 
ship of the school he assumed its obligations, giving his indi- 
vidual notes and meeting them as early as possible out of his 
next vear's salarv. Without a murmur lie bore these Strug-- 



Address of Mr. Leva, of South Carolina, 11 

gles. a must beautiful consideration for the feelings of his loved 
ones causing him to keep the knowledge of their hardships 
from his home folk. But they were not without compensation 
both to him and his fellow-man. 

Adversity is not without its blessings. It brings men in 
close encounter with the rough edges of the world, awakening 
iu them a consciousness of their power, a confidence in their 
ability to cope with its complex and difficult problems, and 
emphasizes the most valuable of all lessons to the young man — 
the lesson of economy. Lord Bacon says: 

Self-reliance and self-denial — 

And they are both the legitimate offspring of poverty — 

will teach a man to drink out of his own cistern, and eat his own sweet 
bread, and to learn and labor truly to get his own living, and carefully to 
expend the good things committed to his trust. 

This philosophy was most completely embodied in the life 
of Congressman STOKES. Early and forced economy gave him 
a most distinct and sharp idea of value. To him economy in 
everything was a virtue, though he was by no means parsimo- 
nious, being, on the contrary, generous to a fault. To him 
Life was a trust estate, the conditions being that every moment 
of time should be given in an effort to better the condition of 
his fellow-man and to add some worthy deed to the sum total 
of human achievement. To frit the moments away in idleness 
and vain endeavor was to violate a sacred trust. Work was a 
duty, a sacred command. 

While the number of persons who owe their education to his 
generosity, largely increased, no doubt, by his own early 
struggles, can not at this time be accurately determined, it is 
sufficient to say that all over his own and several other States 
many "rise up to call him blessed." In his charity- he was 
liberal to the full extent of his ability, adopting a system 



12 Life and Charade) off. William Stokes. 

which is now being followed by his devoted widow, by winch 
he was able to discriminate between the worthy and unworthy 
applicants for his help. 

He continued teaching in Tennessee and Mississippi for 
man\ years, in the meantime graduating in medicine at Van- 
derbilt University while teaching; near Nashville, and, though 
hampered by the duties of the schoolroom, taking a beautiful 
gold medal for a thesis on a given subject over a large number 
of competitors. 

He seemed, however, to have little fancy for the medical 
profession, practicing it only a short time, the quiet work of 
the schoolroom being more in keeping with his character and 
the bent of his mind. 

As a teacher he was eminently successful, many of the best 
equipped and thoroughly disciplined schools of Tennessee and 
Mississippi standing, even now, as monuments to his ability 
and systematic organization. His students loved him for his 
gentle firmness and patient sincerity. His kindly sympathy 
and his inherent knowledge of the subtle influences entering 
into and shaping every life touched a responsive chord in the 
breast of the student body, as a result of which teacher and 
student worked together in perfect harmony, disciplined by 
mutual love and sympathy. 

Doubtless his experience in organizing, disciplining, and 
controlling children was of great value to him in the organ- 
ization of men. The same tact and knowledge of human 
nature are essential in each instance, for men are but grown- 
up children plus experience and age. 

In iSSi, while teaching in Tennessee, he married Miss Ella 
Landes. of Fayetteville, a most refined and highly educated 
lady, whose tact, thoughtfulness, and svmpatln in his work 
contributed in no small measure to his ultimate success and 
universal popularity. In everything she was his helpful 



Address oj Mr. /.ever, of So?//// Caroli?ia, 13 

companion, resourceful, practical, and in thorough accord with 
the noble purposes of his life. Their mutual devotion was 
most beautiful and touching, and their married life of twenty 
years one beautiful dream of happiness, a moon-lit evening 
on the seashore. 

He was preeminently of a religious turn of mind, and in early 
life connected himself with the Methodist Church, giving to 
it his most earnest support. He was a Methodist both by 
choice and heredity, his name being among those of the most 
influential members of that church in the State. There are 
not less than a half dozen consecrated men of his name serving 
the ministry in the Methodist conference of his State at this 
time. He was more than a mere passive church member; 
he was an active worker in the cause of the Master, a working 
Christian. He saw in the church the appointed way to the 
higher and better ideals taught by holy writ, and neither the 
glamour of public life nor its burdens caused him to neglect 
his Sunday school and church work. During all of his life 
he was one of the strong stakes in the Sunday school, and 
while in Washington regularly taught a large Bible class. 

It was while thus equipped with a strong. Christian char- 
acter, a classic education, a wide knowledge of human affairs, 
and a keen and cultivated insight into human nature that 
his father died, necessitating his return home to take charge 
of the estate. 

This event, sad as it was to him, was the crisis in his 
political career. The political storm which broke with the 
fury of a hurricane in 1890, arousing the most intense excite- 
ment, was gathering rapidly. At Bennettsville, Captain Till- 
man, now Senator Tillman, thundered forth the demands of 
the farmer, and called upon him to assert his rights. 

The Farmers' Alliance, which had taken deep root in many 
ot the Western States, was beginning to find favor among 



14 Life and Character of J. William Stokes. 

the farmers of South Carolina, who were chafing under then 
existing conditions and dissatisfied with the management of 
vState and national atfairs. It was at this point that I >r. 
Stokes became a factor in the great movement that must 
ever remain one of the most interesting chapters in the histor} 
of South Carolina. He saw in the purposes of the Alliance 
great possibilities for the agricultural interests of the country, 
and it was hut natural that his love for and belief in the 
rights of the people should find expression in a zealous advo- 
cacy of the part}' which he believed promised the most ultimate 
good to all the people, and, like most of the great Alliance 
leaders, gravitated inevitably into what was known as the 
reform movement. 

His comprehensive mind took in the situation in all its aspects. 
The people were dissatisfied, restless, and demanding a change; 
hut they were in a state of chaos, without organization and sys- 
tematic leadership. These conditions had to be met, and he set 
himself at once to the work of organizing the farmers of his 
county into Alliances, having for their purpose social and indus- 
trial improvement. Into this work he entered with all his mind 
and soul, bringing to it his wide experience in dealing with men 
and his vast accumulation of economic knowledge. 

His enthusiasm was not of the kind born of ulterior motives. 
He was fighting for principle. In this work he met with remark- 
able success, ami his great ability as an organizer found ready 
recognition throughout the State. About this time he bought 
the Cotton Plant, making it the official organ of the Alliance. 
As its editor he showed his full acquaintance with the great 
issues then agitating public thought and his intense love lot the 
people. His style was clear, logical, and plain, his statements 
fair and honest, appealing always to the reason of his readers. 

His promotion continued. He was elected State organizer of 
the Alliance, the most prominent place on the lighting line: and 



Address of Mr. Lever, of South Caroli?ia. 15 

later became its president, holding the latter position for several 
terms. He was the great leader of the Alliance, a fearless and 
aggressive fighter, a cautious and conservative counselor, armed 
at all points with facts and authorities and the equal in point of 
equipment to any foeman or occasion. He applied the cold 
steel of argument to the position of his adversaries and met their 
assaults in kind. His prominence drew upon him the full fire 
of the opposition; but no amount of criticism, sarcasm, or ridi- 
cule could diminish his zeal for the cause, or induce him to 
modify to the extent of a "jot or tittle" the demands of his 
organization. 

He stood steady through it all and directed his forces with a 
judgment almost unerring. He was calm, calculating, judg- 
matic—quick to seize a strategic point or profit by a tactical 
blunder, neither allowing his judgment to become befogged by 
enthusiasm nor permitting an infatuation with an idea to warp 
his reason or entrap his conscience. His ultimate and complete 
leadership in the organization was assured, and from this time 
on he became the loved oracle of the farmers' organization. 

It is not in place at this time to discuss the merits of that 
controversy nor the fruits of that movement. It is sufficient 
for the generations who may wish to study his life to "point a 
moral or adorn a tale" to know that he won the complete con- 
fidence and esteem of his followers by a fearless and faithful 
adherence to his conception of right and merited the respect 
and admiration of his opponents by the fairness and catholicity 
characterizing his attitude toward them. 

It is a most distinct testimonial of the purity of his character 
that at this period of extreme bitterness no word was ever 
uttered in assault upon it, or the integrity of his purposes. 
His most bitter political enemy conceded his high moral char- 
acter and patriotic sincerity. His partisanship was so tem- 
pered with conservatism and a proper regard for the opinions 



16 Life and Character of J. William Stokes. 

of others that when the smoke of that bitter conflict had cleared 
away there was no one unwilling to testify to his ability, fair- 
ness, and manly conduct. 

He was elected to the State senate in 1S90, after a thorough 
canvass of his county, defeating one of its most brilliant and 
honored sons. In the senate he was generally recognized as 
a strong, thoughtful, and conservative man, possessing well- 
defined convictions on public questions and in most thorough 
accord with the dominant thought of the State. His eminent 
services in the senate made him the logical candidate of the 
farmers for the Democratic nomination for Congress in 1892. 

He was opposed by Hon. W. H. Brawley, at present a dis- 
trict judge, and was declared defeated by a small majority. In 
this campaign his great powers as a debater first showed them- 
selves to advantage. His opponent was a past master in the 
art of disputation, eloquent, resourceful, and adroit, while he 
was untried and untrained. But when the clash came, before 
great popular audiences, where the pulse beat is high and true, 
the great ability and tremendous earnestness of the farmers' 
champion supplied his lack of prior training, and he proved 
himself the full equal of his opponent in every respect. 

Congressman Brawley. having been appointed district judge 
by President Cleveland, resigned his seat. 

Undaunted by defeat, confident of the correctness of his 
conclusions and of their ultimate triumph, loved as he was 
by his followers, he again became their standard bearer for the 
unexpired term, and was again defeated for the nomination, 
by a decreased majority, by Judge James F. Izlar, an able 
jurist, an impelling orator, and a most popular man with the 
masses. 

These- reverses did not diminish his optimism nor lessen his 
faith in the final success of the principles he advocated: and 



Address of Mr. Lever, of South Carolina. 17 

though thus defeated, his ability and sincerity had so impressed 
the leadership of the State that the State convention of 1892 
elected him a delegate at large to the national Democratic 
convention, and the same year he was an elector on the 
Democratic ticket. 

1 11 1S94 he received the Democratic nomination for Congress 
without opposition, being opposed in the general election by 
T. B. Johnson, a white Republican, who, failing of a majority 
in the election, appealed his case to the House of Repre- 
sentatives, which, in the final determination of the issue, 
declared the seat vacant. In 1S96 he was again awarded the 
certificate of election for both the unexpired term of the 
Fifty-fourth Congress and the full term of the Fifty-fifth, 
and again Mr. Johnson contested his seat, though the case 
abated upon the death of the contestant. 

He was a member of the constitutional convention in 1895, 
and was one of the leaders of that body, contributing largely 
to the high character of its debates and serving with distinc- 
tion on its most important committees. Feeling the immense 
responsibility of this position and the necessary permanency 
of the work, he spared neither mental nor physical effort to 
inform himself to the end that he might act wisely and for 
the best interests of the State. 

He was elected to the Fifty-sixth Congress without oppo- 
sition, though his nomination by his party was contested 
by Hon. Thomas F. Brantley. He received the unanimous 
nomination of his party in 1900 — the most convincing testi- 
monial of his good service and the confidence of his people — 
and in the general election had only a farcical opposition, which 
met little encouragement from the more respectable element 
of the Republican party in the district. 

As a Congressman he gave his entire time to his duties. 
H. Doc. 71 ; 2 



iS Lit < and Character of J. William Stokes. 

Regular in attendance upon the sessions of his committees 
and the House; attentive to the work of the departments: 
prompt in answering the demands, however trivial, of his 
constituents, however humble; alert to the needs of his dis- 
trict, he was at the same time a close student of economic 
conditions, an original thinker, and an honest and elaborate 
investigator, in full sympathy with the conservative ideas of 
the age and intensely devoted to the cause of the people. 

His intimate and accurate knowledge of the needs of his 
people convinced him that he could serve them in no more 
practical and material way than by giving better mail facil- 
ities to rural communities, and he resurrected the idea of 
rural free delivery. The system had been getting a desultory 
support from several preceding Congresses, but was languish- 
ing for lack of earnest and aggressive sympathizers. In a 
carefully prepared and exhaustive speech he called attention 
to the needs of the farmer in this respect, and pointed out 
the great and beneficent possibility of a perfected system of 
rural free delivery. 

The effect is known and appreciated by the 10,000,000 
farmers daily served by the system. It is his greatest work, 
his most lasting triumph, his best legacy to the generations 
that must ever and ever receive its increasing and multiplied 
benefits. This, together with his authorship of the idea of 
free delivery on star routes, and his fight against gambling in 
cotton futures, gave him a reputation unbounded by district 
and vState lines, and it even went beyond the seas. 

He was intensely patriotic in his work, his vote at all 
times representing the concurrence of his reason and con- 
science. No command of partisanship could ever drive him 
into committing the national conscience to an ethical wrong. 

He was greatly loved by the membership of the House for 
liis purity of character and faithfulness to every obligation, 



Address of Mr. Lever, of South Carolina. 19 

and the spontaneous and sincere expressions of regret for his 
taking off were eloquent tributes to his worth. 

He was neither a genius nor an orator in the ordinary ac- 
ceptation of tin ise terms. He was a powerful and effective 
debater, a strong controversialist, quick to detect a weak point 
in a line of defense, and as alert to marshal his forces against 
it, though he lacked the rich imagination, the nervous energy, 
the command of soul-stirring language, and the personal pres- 
ence which give the orator the power to touch the hidden 
chords of the emotions and for the moment still the voice 
of reason. 

His intellect was of the steady, substantial kind, without 
the meteoric brilliancy which enchains the emotions momen- 
tarily and then goes out in darkness. He was a most able 
man, both by natural endowment and judicious training, con- 
servative in his opinion, safe in his judgment, and content to 
take a practical and human view of things. In his extraor- 
dinary capacity for work he was most undoubtedl}' a genius. 
His well-stored, well-poised mind was the effect of his zeal 
and perseverance in equipping, cultivating, enriching, and 
expanding it. He made the very best use of his natural 
endowments, and this constituted whatever genius he pos- 
sessed; and it is this kind of genius that is in the reach of 
everyone who will pay its price — conscientious, honest labor. 

He was a good man, an accommodating neighbor, a devoted 
son, a tender husband, and thoughtful friend and Christian 
citizen, and an able statesman, whose influence upon every 
community in which he lived was most salutary. To touch 
the circle of his influence was to have the soul raised heaven- 
ward. He bound his friends to him with hooks of steel, and 
their loyalty to him alive and to his memory dead is the 
highest tribute to his unselfish and generous character. The 
Golden Rule was his rule of conduct toward his fellow-man. 



2o Life and Character of J. William Slakes. 

To the young man struggling against the tide, baffled, dis- 
couraged, and despairing, his life is a hope, an inspiration, and 
an exemplification of the maxim, "The gods sell everything 
for labor." Preferments came to him as victories: fortune 
never smiled upon him. Each higher position in the public 
esteem was but a natural evolution, a just recognition of his 
faithfulness and ability in the discharge of less responsible 
duties. He literally won succe^--. 

"Tis not in mortals to command success, 

But we*ll do more, Sempronius; we'll deserve it. 

His death was pathetically sad, coming at a time when he 
had reached the prime development of mental and moral man- 
hood, the full embodiment of civic virtue and Christian char- 
acter. The difficulties of young manhood had ceased to be an 
unpleasant memory in the grand triumphs and honors of full 
maturity; partisan and factional bitterness had yielded to the 
nobler feeling of reconciliation, and he had found solid lodg- 
ment in the affections of all his people, being stronger in 
their love at the time of his death than at any time during 
his career. 

The full stature of the man was beginning to break upon 
tlie people of his State, and the fondest dream of his ambi- 
tion — the honor of representing his great State in the Senate 
of the United States — in all probability would have found an 
early realization in the expressed will of his people. But how 
uncertain are human calculations. 

For several years prior to his death his health had been fail- 
in-, and for months immediately preceding it he was confined to 
his room, where tender and intelligent care did all in its power 
for him. He continued to sink, despite the efforts of the best 
physicians in the State. The worry, confinement, and constant 
mental and physical strain incident to public life had made 



Address of Mr. Lever, of South Carolina. 2\ 

irreparable inroads upon his constitution and it was too weak 
to withstand the assaults of disease. 

He had literally worn himself out in the service of his people, 
and on July 6, iqoi, at 5 o'clock in the morning, the hour when 
darkness salutes the dawn and bids her welcome to her place, 
death came. With a calmness and serenity born of Christian 
fortitude and hope and faith he faced the ordeal of his disso- 
lution, and even in this dread hour the old familiar smile, so 
dear to those who knew him, rested on his face, giving an 
assurance that the bright star of earthly existence had only 
sunk into the more brilliant dawn of a new and better life. 

It is a sweet thought — the thought of immortality — the belief 
that death is only the beginning of a brighter and more joyous 
life, the faith in the promise that those who keep His command- 
ments shall meet again in the "house of many mansions." 
Such a kind philosophy dispels the gloom of the grave and 
brings a solace and an assurance to the broken-hearted and 
disconsolate. 

A great statesman has gone, and his greatest monument will 
be the heritage he has left posterity in the example of a faithful. 
Christian life. 

As said he in eulogizing the late Senator Earle, so can I with 
equal appropriateness say of him: 

If I were to attempt to sum up in one term the quality which lay at 
the foundation of his character, I could find no fitter term than the single 
word "faithful" — faithful to social obligations, to political obligations, 
to public obligations, to private obligations, to family obligations, and, 
back of all, faithful to his obligations to his God. 



22 Life and Character of J. William Stokes. 



Address of Mr. Hay, of Virginia. 

Mr. Speaker: Friendships made during a sen-ice in this 
House are often very close, and the ties here contracted last for 
years, but the dearest friendships are those made in college. 
There we come to know intimately all the good and all the bad 
about our fellows, and when once we leant to love and honor a 
college mate no time nor distance can efface the impressions 
then formed. I knew Mr. Stokes at Washington and Lee 
University, Lexington, \*a., and was closely associated with him 
while there. We roomed in the same house, were coeditors of 
the college magazine, and were thrown constantly together. I 
learned to admire, honor, and love him in those days. He was 
gentle, yet firm. His was a character which commanded the 
respect of all with whom he came in contact. He had the 
undivided confidence of faculty and students, and was one of 
the most popular students in college. 

He took a high stand as a student, and left college with the 
high regard of all. While I. at times, heard of him and from 
him, I did not see him again until I met him in the extra ses- 
sion of the Fifty-fifth Congress. It was a delight to find him 
the same in character and in standing here as he had been 
at college — conscientious, hard working. Representing with 
fidelity his constituents, having the confidence of his associates 
on this floor, and playing his part here with distinguished 
merit, he had the profound regard of all the members of 
this House. 



Address of Mr. Hay, of Virginia. 23 

His death was most untimely. In the flower of his age, at 
the height of his usefulness, in the fullness of experience, he 
was taken from that sphere of action in which he was dis- 
playing the sound common sense, the graceful tact, which 
were his characteristics. We can but deplore his taking off 
and mingle our tears with those of his people, who honored 
him and whom he honored. 



24 Life and Character of J, William Stokes. 



Address of Mr. De Armond, of Missouri. 

Mr. Speaker: The proud State of South Carolina lias fur- 
nished to the country many distinguished men and made a 
great deal of history. Among those whom she sent to public 
life perhaps no one deserves to stand higher as a modest gentle- 
man and faithful representative than our departed friend, to 
whose memory we pay tribute to-day. 

It is common in eulogies to exaggerate; indeed, it is common 
to deny to people while living credit for the good qualities 
which they possess, and common after they have departed from 
life to attribute to them good qualities which they did not pos- 
sess. Thus we often do injustice to the living and do more 
than justice to the memory of the dead, withhold the kindly 
word and generous commendation when they might be of value, 
and spout fulsome praise when praise is useless. 

What has been said to-day, touchingly and appropriately, by 
the young member from South Carolina [Mr. Lever] who suc- 
ceeded our departed friend lias also been said truthfully, and 
therefore it is really a fitting tribute, full and just, to the good 
man who has gone hence. Dr. STOKES possessed in a marked 
degree the amiable and excellent qualities of manhood. He 
was modest and firm; he was true and faithful. It has been 
said of him very justly that in this House he had not a foe and 
that every man who knew him was his friend. He gave offense 
to no one, he did wrong to no one, he spoke harshly of no one, 
he felt ill toward no one. He was singularly free from malevo- 
lence and envy and jealousy and all disposition to harm any of 



Address of Mr. De Armond, of Missouri. 25 

God's creation. He possessed in a notable degree, upon the 
contrary, the inclination to help, to treat kindly, to advance, to 
build up. 

I did not know Dr. Stokes until he came to this body as a 
member of it. I saw all sides of him and learned to know a 
good deal of his character during the time when the contest 
over his seat was pending in this House. No one who has not 
had the experience of a contest can fully understand or properly 
appreciate what care and anxiety and vexation it may bring. 
The mere observer can only judge of it partially and imper- 
fectlv. When the contest is on, when bitterness frequently is 
aroused, when often unfair things are attempted and unkind 
things are frequently said, it is not remarkable to find one 
engaged in such a contest giving the rein to his malevolent 
feelings, if he have any, and suppressing his kindly and more 
generous sentiments. As a member of the committee which 
considered and reported upon the election contest of Johnston 
against Stokes I was most favorably impressed, as I think every 
member of the committee was, by the honorable bearing of 
Dr. Stokes. 

Not a solitary thing, in private conversation or publicly, in 
committee or in the House, ever escaped his lips calculated to 
show the least feeling against the contestant or the least desire 
for anything but a fair consideration of his case. He was calm, 
good-humored and fair, generous and kindly, through it all. 
He had no doubt about the fact of his election, and he had a 
confidence that fair play would be done him in the House. 
When the decision was finally reached, which denied to the 
contestant the seat and, removing the contestee from it, vacated 
the seat, he left for his South Carolina home without exhibit- 
ing any evidence of the least bitterness or disappointment, and, 
I am sure, without an unkind feeling toward anybody in the 



Life and Character of J. William Stokes. 

House, anybody in his own State, or anybody in the wide 
world. 

Dr. Stokes was a singularly modest and diffident man. won- 
derfully considerate of the feelings and the rights of all others; 
one who would rather suffer the deprivation of some of his own 
rights and privileges than, by any chance or any accident, 
trench upon those of others. He passed in and out of the 
House pursuing his duties quietly, unostentatiously, and 
faithfully. 

South Carolina may have had— doubtless has had — more 
brilliant Representatives, but she never had a more faithful 
one or one better disposed to the performance of every duty. 
She has sent to this body and into public life many men of 
high qualities and chivalrous bearing, but never, I think, did 
she have in public life a man more faithful to her interests, 
more blameless throughout his whole public and private life, 
than the man to whose memory we pay tribute to-day. 

A good man has gone; a faithful servant has been removed 
from a service valuable to his constituents. He has left a 
good record at home, a good record here, and I verily believe 
that every man, woman, and child who knew him remembers 
him kindly. I am sure that not one with whom he came in 
contact has a bitter, revengeful, or unkind feeling toward him. 
He earned a good name and left it a legacy. 

Passing through life thus kind and gentle, doing good upon 
every occasion and according to the full measure of every 
opportunity, doing harm to none and wishing harm to none, 
and finally, full of honor, crowned with the glory of a well- 
spent and useful life, passing, when the sun was at meridian, 
to the great life beyond, few have left and few can leave, 
according to their opportunities in the spheres in which they 
move, a better record — one which can be looked upon with 
more pride and more pleasure by friend and fellow-citizen, by 



Address of Mr. De Armond, of Missouri. 27 

relatives and by those unrelated — than that of the gentleman 
who lately represented a district of the old Palmetto State 
that gave him birth, honored him, and was served by him 
and finally laid his mortal remains away in historic soil, 
enriched by the ashes of the immortal dead. 

I am glad on this occasion to pay my tribute to the worth 
of the modest gentleman, faithful Representative, kind friend 
ntle ways and blameless life, our friend, J. William 
Stokks. 



28 Life and Character of J. William Stairs. 



Address of Mr. Jenkins, of Wisconsin. 

Mr. Speaker: I should not feel as though I was properly 
discharging my duty if I allowed this opportunity to pass 
without adding my tribute to the life and memory of the 
Hon. J. W. Stokes. 

It was my pleasure and good fortune to meet him at the 
opening of the Fifty-fourth Congress, and I had every oppor- 
tunity to familiarize myself with every phase of his nature. 

His right to his seat was contested, and the case came before 
a committee of which I was a member. This relationship 
brought me in close contact with him. The hearing- was of 
great interest to him. He was not only personally interested, 
but he felt a deep interest in the result as affecting the State 
which he in part so honorably and ably represented. 

To his credit it can be said that he simply relied upon the 
law and the fact to entitle him to succeed, and he scorned any 
attempt to have influence exerted in his behalf, at the same 
time fully appreciating the earnestness and kindness of his 
many friends. 

In the discharge of my duty I was compelled to ask him a 
great many questions, to more fully develop his case. His 
answers were always prompt, candid, and full, without regard 
as to how they affected him. While opposed to me in politics, 
I appreciated the care with which he investigated all public 
questions, and he tried to and did represent his people, his 
State, and his country, in a strong, able, and dignified 
manner. 

He was rapidly developing as a close student and an able 



Address of Mr. Jenkins, of Wisconsin. 29 

and just legislator. His utterances were always manly, pure, 
and elevating, showing the nobleness of genuine Christian 
character. 

I was greatly pained and surprised to learn of his sudden 
and untimely death. 

In mid-life, a man of splendid habits, I thought he had a 
great future before him, and did not realize that grim-visaged 
death was hovering so near to summon him to eternal life. 

Mr. Stokes came from a section of the country that needed 
just such characters in public life as he was. His broad, 
manly way in treating public questions, and greeting those 
he came in contact with so cordially and so pleasantly, natu- 
rallv made him loved and respected by all who knew him, 
and did much for the State which he in part represented. 

Knowing him as I did. I know that he lived a good life. 
Appreciating his manliness. I know that the country met 
with a great loss in his death. His manner was so quiet, per- 
souallv unobtrusive, thoughtful and reflective in his nature, 
that he endeared himself to all who had associations with him, 
and it is perfectly proper that we pause in the discharge of 
public business to fitly honor his memory by paying the last 
tribute of respect to the honored and lamented dead. 

Verily, a good and patriotic man has fallen! 

His life was gentle; ami the elements 

So mix'd in him, that Nature might stand up, 

And say to all the world, " This was a man! " 



Life and Character of J. William Stokes. 



Address of Mr. Williams, of Mississippi. 

Mr. Speaker: Philosophy has been defined to be "the con- 
templation of death." Whether this be true or not it is certain 
that all of man's philosophizing about other things sinks into 
insignificance in the contemplation of the dread incomprehensi- 
bility. 

To what an exact equality of nothingness, when viewed from 
an earthly standpoint, does it bring us all — rich and poor, wise 
and foolish, great and obscure, studious and idle, virtuous and 
vicious, king and lackey, emperor and bootblack! At the end 
the ants have swarmed and fought, worked hard to store up for 
a winter's day, begotten their kind, died, and given way to 
other ants. 

The flies on the spokes of the wheel of the universe have 
gone round with the wheel, fondly imagining that they had 
something to do with its evolutions, have some day unexpect- 
edly dropped off, and other flies have settled there. If it were 
all of life to live and all of death to die, if the race only were 
immoral and the individual sank, body and mind, into the 
hideous rottenness of death, who could find a rational cause to 
prefer one course of life to another, except only to prefer pleas- 
ure to pain, ease to labor, soft places to hardships 2 

"Eat, drink, and be merry, for to-morrow you die, " would 
be the only philosophy taught by " the contemplation of death , ' ' 
except, perhaps, this: When life becomes misery, seek the 
"quietus" of "a bare bodkin," congratulating beforehand the 
leaser worms upon the feast you are preparing for them. 

The very fact that mankind does not act and has never acted 
on that theory is proof that they do not believe, have never 



Address of Mr. Williams, of Mississippi. 31 

believed, and will never believe that the body is the man. the 
tenement the tenant, or the destruction of the tenement the 
annihilation of the tenant — in a word, that body-death stops 
soul-growth. "There's a divinity that shapes our ends, rough- 
hew them how we will." 

There can, of course, be no physical proof of a spiritual fact, 
and yet the spiritual instinct of mankind has led them ' ' at all 
times and in all places ' ' to the great central truth on which 
depends even earthly progress, development, virtue, civiliza- 
tion — the only possible "working hypothesis" of life, viz, that 
the real man, the .breath o: the Infinite within the tenement of 
clay, can not die. Revelation only confirmed it, making a live 
faith of that which was a philosophic as well as an instinctive 
belief. It is this faith which keeps hope in the human breast, 
and with hope the work-motive. 

Xo man in Congress known to me ever lived a life or pos- 
sessed a character more entirely molded in the mold of that 
faith than William Stokes, of South Carolina. I served 
with him in the Fifty-fourth and Fifty-fifth and Fifty-sixth 
Congresses. We were not only fellow-members, but fellow- 
committeemen. It is upon committees that Representatives 
learn best to know one another. Xo duty was so small as to 
miss his attention: none so difficult as to make him shirk it. 
Sweet tempered and patient in public life, he was affectionate, 
loving, and temperate in private life, deserving, and to an 
unusual degree possessing, the love of his family and his 
friends. 

He made no boast of it and never any ostentatious show of 
it, and yet he was, as a matter of fact, one of the best educated 
and most broadly informed men in the House. He was, mure 
than that, deeply cultured in the highest sense. His mind had 
dwelt much upon the humanitarianism of the Here and the 
eternal verities of the Hereafter. The broad world-love of 



32 Life and Character off. William Stokes. 

Jesus of Nazareth had sunk deep into his heart and found 
there an abiding place and a home. Mind culture had broad- 
ened and deepened into soul culture. I will not say " May his 
soul rest in peace," because he himself did not believe that rest 
was the summum bonum of man's existence or the goal of his 
destiny. 

I would rather say: May his soul continue to grow in power 
throughout all the ages of the "other time." 



Address of Mr. Elliott, of South Carolina. 



Address of Mr. Elliott, of South Carolina. 

Mr. Speaker: When, during the last session of Congress, 
we learned that Dr. Stokes had left his post of duty to go 
home on account of the state of his health, it never occurred to 
me for a moment that he was in any real danger. And I had 
this feeling because he was so self-contained, so thoughtful, so 
resourceful, so wise in the solution of every problem that con- 
fronted him, and so prompt and efficient in the doing of that 
which his judgment dictated that it did not occur to me that 
he would fail to overcome this clanger as he had all difficulties 
that had confronted him. During my term of service here with 
Dr. Stokes, extending over several terms, I had learned by the 
closest and most familiar contact that he possessed all these 
admirable qualities — qualities that might well justify him in 
feeling that for him there was no such word as fail. 

I did not know Dr. Stokes until it was my good fortune to 
meet him here as an associate in this body. There were two 
prominent circumstances that tended to bring us together from 
the outset. One was that he then represented in great part 
that splendid constituency of the Seventh district which had 
supported me so bravely in many a hard-fought battle. We 
had both been greatly honored by the same people; we had both 
learned in the hard field of experience how to value their stead- 
fastness, their integrity, and. more than all. their quiet but firm 
determination to maintain at every sacrifice the predominance 
of decent government. 

Nothing was more natural than that we should be drawn to- 
gether by such ties, and I know that our friendship derived 
II. Doc . 71 ;, — 3 



34 Life a?td Character of J. William Stokes. 

strength from the character of the people through whom we 
were bound together. This was one of the circumstances that 
first made us friends, and a most pleasant one it was. The 
other was of a different character, one that might well be called 
the horror of Congressional life. We were both involved in the 
disaster of having to maintain and defend in this forum our 
right to the seats to which our constituents had elected us. I 
would not refer to such a matter on this solemn occasion were 
it not that our common misfortune, which entailed upon us an 
endless amount of work and worry, made conspicuous the ad- 
mirable traits of Dr. Stokes's character and first made me value 
him at his true worth and have absolute reliance upon him. 
From this time on until the end we were firm friends, and 
our intercourse was of the most delightful character. And 
the more I knew of him the more I liked and admired him. 
For he was one of those men who, from their quiet and 
unpretentious demeanor, must be well known to be appreciated. 
He was absolutely without guile or pretense; he was as true 
as steel: he was faithful to every trust: he was diligent; he 
was sound in judgment and prompt in execution; he was 
untiring in work; he was courteous to everyone, but firm as 
a rock in the performance of what he believed to be his duty. 
He never faltered, but kept on in the even tenor of his way 
until the thing he had to do was done. 

As I have already said, I learned never to associate failure 
with our dead colleague. This was because he was a thorough 
believer in hard, systematic work and had a wholesale contempt 
for mere show and promise of performance. To this was due 
the strong hold he had on his people, a hold that grew stronger 
with each year of his service, until at the time of his untimely 
taking off he had practically the unanimous support of his 
district. And he deserved all this, Mr. Speaker, because we 
who were familiar with his daily life here well know that there 



Address of Mr. Elliott, of South Carolina. 35 

never was a more faithful Representative than he, and that his 
constant thought was what more he could do for the people 
who had honored him. 

As in his Congressional career, so it was in his previous 
life — all that Dr. .Stokes accomplished was by hard, untiring 
work. Born in Orangeburg County, S. C, in 1S53, he was 
brought up to farm life, meanwhile attending the county 
schools until his entrance into Washington and Lee University, 
from which he graduated in 1876 with high honors. In order 
to pay off the debt contracted in procuring an education he 
taught school a number of years in Tennessee and Mississippi, 
and while so engaged in Tennessee utilized his spare time in 
studying medicine at Yanderbilt University. 

Notwithstanding this drawback, Dr. Stokes graduated at 
the head of his class, and bore off from many competitors 
the prize for the best essay. In 1S89 he returned to South 
Carolina and to farm life, and was prominent in organizing 
the Fanners' Alliance of the State, of which he was president 
for two terms. He became State senator in 1890; was one of 
the delegates at large to the Democratic convention at Chicago 
in 1892; a Presidential elector on the Democratic ticket in the 
same year, and a member of the constitutional convention of 
1895. He was still further honored by his people by being 
elected to the Fifty-fourth, Fifty-fifth, Fifty-sixth, and Fifty- 
seventh Congresses. Those of us who did not know him until 
we served with him here could easily understand that his 
previous successful career, his promotion from one high trust 
to another, were due to his untiring, unostentatious, and faithful 
work. 

To quote from one who knew him well: 

There is another side of Dr. Stokes's life that is not generally known, 
which accounts for the strong hold he had on the affections of the people. 
Having no children of his own to care for and educate, it was his delight 



V Life and Character of J. William Stokes. 

to assist others. There is many a young man to-day pursuing his college 
course who will niis^ the assistance of Dr. Stokes. There are many 
young men at home and abroad who owe their education to the kind- 
heartedness of Dr. STOKES. Of this the public knew little, only those 
interested in each particular case knowing the facts. 

While in Tennessee Dr. Stokes married Miss Ella S. Lan- 
dless, of Fayetteville, Tenii., a woman universally beloved for 
her charming personality and most admirable character. Their 
married life was an unbroken chain of complete happiness 
riveted together by mutual love and esteem. From what I 
know of his true and faithful heart I do not doubt that the 
presence and tender ministrations of his devoted wife in his 
last hours robbed death of its sting. 

I can not obtrude upon what we all know to Lie a life sorrow. 
Mr. Speaker, I esteemed it a mournful privilege to be able 
to attest by my presence at the last solemn rites my admira- 
tion of his character and my affection for him as a friend. 
The vast throng there assembled, the evidence of sorrow 
depicted on every countenance, the solemn and impressive 
services of the church of which he had been for many years 
a devoted and consistent member, all testified to the esteem 
in which our dead colleague was held at his home. And 
when we had given his body to its last resting place we knew 
that we had consigned to the keeping of the soil he loved so 
well all that was mortal of an earnest Christian, a devoted 
husband, a loving son and brother, a true and faithful friend, 
and an upright, honorable, and zealous public servant. 



Address of Mr. Wadsworth, of New York. 



ADDRESS OF MR. WADSWORTH, OF NEW YORK. 

Mr. Speaker: It was my pleasure to serve on the Committee 
on Agriculture with Mr. J. William Stokes during the entire 
period of his membership in the House of Representatives. 

His appointment to the committee was a timely, fit selection. 
Mr. Stokks was brought up on a farm, and his knowledge of 
agricultural conditions, especially in the Southern States, quali- 
fied him perfectly for service on the committee which has all to 
do with the Federal connection with agricultural affairs. Ik- 
had a farm boy's love for country and a farmer's perception of 
the needs of the calling. He was a close student of the agri- 
cultural conditions of the country, not confining himself to the 
section in which he resided, but showing equal interest in the 
North and West. 

No member of the committee was more attentive and earnest 
in his duties. He was a constant and regular attendant at all 
of the sessions and showed a keen, intelligent interest in every 
subject brought up for discussion. As to his personality, Mr. 
Stokes was a gentle, lovable gentleman, who made for him- 
self a very warm place in the hearts of all those who came in 
daily contact with him. Those of us who were fortunate 
enough to have close association with him in the preliminary 
work performed in the committee were, perhaps, better quali- 
fied to judge of the character of Mr. Stokes than others who 
simply saw him on the floor of the House. He was not a man 
who was self-assertive, but was of such disposition that he 
seemed to try at all times to smooth the pathway of others 
rather than to put himself forward. Industrious and pains- 
taking in all that he did, his gentleness of character endeared 
him to all. 



38 Life and Character of J. William Stokes. 

The death of such a man in the prime of his life may not 
cause great comment in the nation generally. It is likely that 
the history of his State will he written with but a brief allusion 
to the services for his constituents and his country, but the 
departure from this world of such a character leaves a paug in 
the hearts of those who knew him intimately which is not felt 
when a man of more prominence and fewer lovable traits is 
called away. I think I am voicing the sentiments of my col- 
leagues on the Committee on Agriculture when I say that this 
man has been greatly missed by all of his committee associates. 
There are moments when legislative duties are forgotten; and 
when we think of those who have joined with us in the past in 
our deliberations it is then that we glance toward the seat 
which he occupied and feel with keen regret that a kindly, 
loving frieud has been taken from us and that we never again 
shall have the counsel and advice of him who has been sum- 
moned back to his Maker. 



Address of Mr, Scarborough, of South Carolina. 39 



ADDRESS OF MR. SCARBOROUGH, OF SOUTH CAROLINA. 

Mr. Speaker: It is eminently proper that we pause amid 
the busy activities of life and drop a tear of regret on the grave 
of a dead comrade. "One touch of nature makes the whole 
world kin," and I apprehend that no one is so callous as to 
feel no pang when a fellow-man yields up his life to the 
grim destroyer. The universality of death does not lessen 
its terrors. It is one great fact in every life which comes 
without our volition, and despite our most earnest protest and 
care. "The living know that they shall die" is the voice of 
revelation which sings in mournful cadence in every ear. 

Death makes no invidious distinctions. The smiling infant, 
the sturdy youth, sweet-faced maiden, and aged, care-worn 
man are alike its victims. It visits alike the disease-stricken 
beggar on his pallet of straw and the wealthy prince upon his 
bed of down. Rich and poor, humble and great, young and 
old, all must die. "The rag of wretchedness and the purple- 
robe of power find a common level in the democracy of death." 
The child just budding into conscious existence turns from its 
play and seeks safety in its mother's lap when it hears this 
awful subject discussed or when it looks on the face of a dead 
playmate. Young men and maidens become pensive and quiet 
when death steals into a community and touches a friend or 
companion. The man of business starts when he learns that 
an acquaintance has been torn from family and friends and 
carried to that bourne whence no traveler returns. The cer- 
tainty of this dread visitation is the bitter in every cup of 
happiness, the skeleton at every feast. And the unuttered 



4>i Life and Character of J. William Stokes. 

question of every palpitating heart as it looks upon the face 

of the dead is, "Who next'" 

Nearly one year ago Dr. J. William Stokes, an honored 
member of this body, was called to meet this king of terrors. 
He met him like a warrior faces his foe — grandly, bravely — but 
a new-made grave in Sunnyside Cemetery, in his much-loved 
Carolina, is a sad memorial of the unequal contest. 

As a member of the South Carolina delegation, I desire to 
join my colleagues in paying tribute to one whom the people 
of my State knew, trusted, and honored, and who died holding 
a commission from them under which he sat in the Council 
Chamber of the nation. 

Dr. Stokes needs no eulogy from me. He established his 
reputation at home by devotion to duty as he saw it. and 
achieved an enviable distinction here by close attention to 
affairs of state. Xo work belonging to the duties of his office 
was too insignificant to receive his attention, none so great 
as to deter him from attempting its discharge. 

I had not the honor of an intimate personal acquaintance 
with Dr. Stokes, and hence I shall speak of him as a public 
character and from what I have learned of him as one of 
the leading men of our State. 

He was identified with the people — the great body of the 
people — drew his inspiration from them, was their champion 
at home as well as in this Hall, and while serving them in 
the capacity of a Representative in Congress he was true to 
the trust committed to his hands. He passed unscathed 
through the troublous times of political revolution in our 
State and presented to the public a character so pure that 
no critic could find a blemish upon his escutcheon, a purpose 
so noble that no opponent could successfully gainsay it. a 
devotion to his party and friends so loyal that he will live 



Address of Mr. Scarborough, of South Carolina. 41 

in the history of the Statu as one who merited all the honors 
which he received. 

< >thers, however, who knew him well, have spoken of his 
virtues and pointed out the traits of character which made 
him great; for, indeed, any man is great who, like him, lives 
in the hearts of his countrymen. 

A tew days ago I was shown a letter of condolence written 
by a friend to the wife of the dead statesman. One passage is 
so pregnant of meaning, and si 1 fully describes the perfection of 
his manhood, that I will read it. The writer said: 

In a State which has produced so many good men, I know of none who 
had higher ideals of life and duty or who was more thoroughly con- 
scientious in the performance of his duties as a citizen, his obligations as 
a Christian, his pledges as a gentleman, his offices as a friend, and his 
life as a man. 

But there is one feature of his make-up particularly worthy 
of note, and that is his lofty Christian character. It is too 
often the case that political honors and worldly prosperity 
wean men away from the Christian life and make them forget 
that religion should be their chief concern. Xot so with Dr. 
Stokes. Neither the heat of political controversy nor the 
applause of the multitude could disturb his trust in God or 
separate him from the deep and rich experiences of a conse- 
crated life. The allurements of fortune, the seductive influ- 
ences of high political position, were insufficient to turn him 
from the King's highway. He overcame self, walked through 
life with the tread of a conqueror, and kept his face turned to 
the heavenly hills as truly as the needle points to the pole. 
A life like his is an inspiration and his triumphal death a 
benediction. 

Near the banks of the historic Edisto, the scene of strife and 
carnage in Revolutionary days, sleeps this truly noble man. 
Neither the criticisms of enemies nor the plaudits of friends 



42 Life and Character of f. William Stokes. 

reach his ears. Like a tired child he lies in the bosom of 
mother earth, and after life's fitful fever is over he sleeps well. 
Not far from his resting place, in the beautiful home he 
builded, there sits a sad-faced woman whom he called wife. 
Almost a year has passed since death robbed her of her loving 
husband and protector. The frosts of winter nipped the flowers 
planted on the grave of her gallant knight, who loved her with 
all the ardor of his nature. Returning spring has recalled 
these love offerings into life, and still she keeps her holy vigil 
and longs for — 

The touch of a vanished hand. 
The sound of a voice that's still. 

Her inconsolable grief is the most eloquent tribute to his 
worth, and her bitter tears the most touching memorial of his 
life. The State mourns him, and friends and neighbors claim 
the right to share in the grief of the heartbroken wife. 

He lies within the light of God, 

Not a -,'nadow on his breast; 
Where the wicked cease from troubling 

And the weary are at rest. 

Voting in years, full of purpose and energy, it seems almost 
cruel that he should have been called from his half-finished 
task. The summons came at midday, but it found him ready. 
He had secured his passport, and without a murmur he stepped 
into what we call the yloom and the shadow of the tomb. But 
no wonder that he quailed not when he stood at the grim portals 
of death. Years before, when life was full of hope and promise, 
he had found the Holy Grail. He had been in the Vallej ol 
Silence of which Father Ryan sang. 

He toiled on heart-tired of the human. 

And moaned amid the mazes of men, 
Till he knelt long ago at an altar 

And heard a voice call him. Since then 
He walked down the Valley of Silence 

That lies far beyond mortal ken. 



Address of Mr. Scarborough, of South Carolina. 43 

Faithfulness to even - trust was the ruling principle of his 
life. Knightly as the ideal gentleman of old to the woman 
he called by the sncred name of wife; loyal to his party and 
friends: true to himself, his country, and his God, he fell asleep 
so gently that no trace of suffering rested on his manly brow, 
and ' ' he died with a smile on his face as though an angel 
had kissed him." 

After all, the best of him remains — the record of a good 
name and his lofty Christian integrity. He had fed his soul 
on the bread of life and quenched his thirst in the living 
waters. No doubts or fears disturbed his regal spirit or 
shook his mighty faith. His stalwart mind caviled not at 
the so-called conflicts of religion and science. To him one 
was the complement of the other. He read 011 the pages of 
each the history of his race from creation's dawn to life's 
fitful close. Grand philosophy, beautiful faith! Each of 
these twin sisters follow us through all the labyrinthine way. 
Science stops pensive and sad at the tomb, drops a tear of 
regret on the sleeping dust of humanity, and writes an interro- 
gation point for its epitaph. Religion takes up afresh the 
story of life and destiny and points to home and rest beyond 
the stars, that move in stately courses across the empyrean 
blue. 

Full of such knowledge and inspired by such faith, the 

lamented statesman went out with the tide, well knowing 

that he would 

Meet his Pilot fact- u> face 
When he had crossed the l>ar 



44 Life and Character of J. William Stokes. 

Address of Mr. Gilbert, of Kentucky. 

Mr. Speaker: We are called upon again to contemplate the 
saddest, the strangest, and most inscrutable event in all of this 
riddk- of human life— death. It would seem that so many 
myriads of the living have ceased to move among us that the 
few survivors would become accustomed to the inevitable and 
look upon this cessation of life as the natural, normal, and 
therefore the most uninteresting of all the incidents of our 
existence; but it is not so, and we can not be made familiar 
with this dread destroyer. Death, on the contrary, is always 
new. and always startling, and always awful. 

Into every grave we gaze with new astonishment and over 
the lifeless form of every friend we stand in silence and amaze- 
ment. We ask the same old question to ourselves which Job 
propounded in the morning of history: " If a man die, shall he 
live again?" And no sufficient answer has ever yet been given 
to this greatest of all questions. To this question our experi- 
ence and observation answer, "No." Science and philosophy 
say "they do not know:" but faith and religion, supported by 
the universal sentiment of mankind, answer, "Yes." But 
whatever the answer may be, death still remains, sad and 
inscrutable. It is sad when gray hairs and tottering limbs 
warn us of its approach: it is sad when physical suffering 
and mental decay make us welcome its embrace; but it is 
sadder still, and saddest of all, when we see a young man sud- 
denly snatched away in the prime and vigor of his young 
manhood, leaving behind him a young and devoted wife, and 
leaving unfinished so much of good that he might have accom- 
plished and so much which, it seems to us, he ought to have 
been permitted to accomplish. But at the grave our experi- 
ence and observation count for but little. We bury there our 
science and our philosophy, and we turn away, seeing more 



Address of Mr. Gilbert, of Kentucky. 45 

\ through the tears and sadness of the hour the truth of 
that universal verdict of mankind that if a man die he shall 
live again. For do not that same science and philosophy teach 
us that — 

If a star were plucked from mi high, 

For ayes would its light. 
Streaming on down through the sky 

Beam on our mortal sight. 
So when a good man die-., 

For aye-, beyond our ken 
The light he leaves behind him shines 

Upon the paths of men. 

Then, it is nut true that either the good or the evil which 
men do is oft interred in their graves. In the higher and 
better sense the man does not die, and we have not buried 
our friend the Hon. J. William Stokks. His body perished 
and was buried, but the man lives on. His life work is left 
and his monument has been erected, not of stone or marble 
it may be, but in the memory of those who knew him, in the 
influence for good he wielded, and in that molded, rounded, 
useful life which passes not away. 

I held it truth, with him who sings 

To one clear harp of divers tones. 

That men may rise on stepping-stones, 
Of their dead selves to higher things. 

The splendors of the Taj-Mehal did not increase the virtues 
nor lessen the vices of the beautiful Indian ijtieen to whose 
memory it was erected. Carvings in stone and sculptures in 
marble can not alter what has been written in the Book of 
Life. Our marbled pantheon in yonder hall adds not one jot 
or tittle to the smallness or to the greatness of those whose 
exterior images have been wrought in stone. Indeed, we are- 
all sculptors of life, and the universe is one universal pantheon, 
with a niche for each of us, high or low, as we may choose; 
and we are all chiseling away, making our own monuments 
with form and feature and lineaments of our own fashioning. 



4 6 Life and Character of J. William Stokes. 

It is therefore a pleasure, even in the midst of our sorrow, to 
point you to the exalted niche which Dr. Stokes has carved, 
and to look at the splendid lineaments wrought by him in a life 
of honor and usefulness. He was as true to his convictions as 
was that Roman sentinel whom the lava of Vesuvius could not 
drive from his post. He was honest and charitable as a man. 
He was tried and remained popular as a citizen. He was 
faithful and efficient as a public servant, and. more than all, he 
was kind, tender, and affectionate as a husband, as a friend, 
and neighbor. 

The poet was mistaken who said: 

The boast of heraldry, the pomp of pow'r, 

And all that beauty, all that wraith e'er gave, 

Await alike the inevitable hour. 

The paths of glory lead but to the grave. 

They do not lead but to the grave. They do not lead to the 

grave at all, nor even toward the grave. Nothing valuable 

that wealth or beauty e'er gave have been buried. Only gross 

material things are buried. But as to the fine impulses of the 

heart, the achievements of a life, the splendid accomplishments 

of the intellect — there is no death. 

There is no death! The stars go down. 

To rise im Mime fairer shore, 
And bright in heaven's jeweled crown, 

They shine forever more. 

There is no death! The dust we tread 
Shall change beneath summer showers 

To golden grain or mellowed fruit 
Or rainbow-tinted flowers. 

There is no death! The leaves may fall, 
And flowers may fade and pass away; 

Thev i.nh wait through wintry hours 
The coming of the May. 

There is no death! An angel form 

Walks o'er the earth with silent tread; 

He hears our best loved things away 
And then we call them "dead." 



Address of Mr. Ricliardson, of Tennessee. 47 



Address of Mr. Richardson, of Tennessee. 

Mr. Speaker: The daily routine of our legislative work 
is suspended once again that we may pay a brief tribute of 
respect to the memory of the dead. 

The young may die, the old must die, and the wisest of 
us know not how soon. This time the member we eulogize 
was not only my warm political ally, but I was proud to 
name him in the list of the very first of my personal friends. 
I had had the pleasure of an acquaiutance with him more 
or less intimate for a longer period, perhaps, than any mem- 
ber of this House, except some gentlemen of his own State 
delegation. I met him first in my own Congressional district 
in Tennessee nearly twenty years ago. It was while I was 
a very young member of Congress and when I was strug- 
gling to make friends and followers in my aspirations to 
continue a member of this House. It was under these cir- 
cumstances we first met and he became my warm supporter 
and advocate. 

You have already been told that Dr. Stokes was born on 
a country farm, in Orangeburg, within the State of South 
Carolina, in the year 1853; that there he grew to manhood, 
enjoying the opportunities of the average country school such 
as was found in his day and time in his State and through- 
out his section of the Union: that he graduated from Wash- 
ington and Lee University in 1876, and that he then entered 
upon a course of teaching, which he followed until about 
18SS, or a period of twelve or more years. 

He was elected to the State senate of South Carolina in 
1890. In 1S92 he was sent as a delegate to the national 



4 s Life and Character of J. William Stokes. 

Democratic convention, which assembled that year in the 
city of Chicago, and which nominated for President and 
Vice-President Mr. Cleveland and Mr. Stevenson. He be- 
came a Presidential elector in that contest, and made a 
splendid canvass of his district for the national ticket. He 
was then laying the foundation of his future career as a 
Representative of his district in the Congress of the United 
States. 

He was first elected to the House of Representatives in 

14, to the Fifty-fourth Congress, and reelected to the Fifty- 
fifth. Fifty-sixth, and Fifty-seventh Congresses. By his death 
he was prevented from taking his seat in this body in the 
Fifty-seventh Congress when we assembled in this Hall last 
December. 

I believe he was a member of the constitutional convention 
which framed the constitution of his State. In all these posi- 
tions of honor and trust committed to his hands by his people 
and constituents he bore himself not only with credit to him- 
self, but with honor to those who gave their interests to him. 

It is always sad to contemplate the loss of such a man as 
Dr. STOKES. Men like himself can not be well spared from 
public life, for there are too few such as he, who are willing to 
give up the quiet ease and comfort of the simple home life to 
engage actively in the turmoil and excitement of the hustings. 
He was a modest, unassuming, Christian gentleman, who 
improved ami elevated the society in which he moved. His 
career in Congress could never have been what is termed bril- 
liant or meteoric. He was of different mold. He was to be 
depended on in all the emergencies where coolness, calmness, 
and unimpassioned judgment were in demand to solve difficult 
and trying situations and emergencies. In all things public 
and private he was honest, sincere, and true. While engaged 



Address of Mr. Richardson, of Tennessee. 49 

in his profession of school-teaching he found his way to Ten- 
nessee and located within the limits of the district I have the 
honor to represent on this floor. He taught school in two of 
the counties which then composed and which now compose 
my district. 

There is where I first met him. and learned to love and to 
admire him. It was while thus occupied and engaged that he 
met, wooed, and won the estimable woman who was su1>>l- 
quentlv to become his partner in life. In a modest country 
home, surrounded by all that goes to make life pure and hearts 
contented, they united their fortunes and lives. He could not 
have been more fortunate in his selection, for while she brought 
to him the heritage of a good name — there being none better in 
our State — she was personally worthy of him into whose hands 
she committed herself. As we utter these words our hearts 
go out to her in the deepest and tenderest sympathy. 

Mr. Speaker, in the loss of J. William Stokes this House 
has been deprived of an honest, upright legislator, his State a 
true and tried Representative, his country a broad-minded and 
devoted patriot, his church a pious and faithful member, and his 
widow a loving, tender husband 
H. Doc. 713 4 



50 Life and Character of J, William Stokes. 



Address of Mr. Johnson, of South Carol:' 

Mr. Speaker: To-day, as we lay aside the regular business 
of this ImmIy, as it is eminently proper that we should do, to 
pay tribute to the memory and worth of our deceased brother, 
we are forcibly reminded that death conies with equal pace to 
the palace and the hut. Though I was not intimately 
acquainted with the late Representative Stokes, it became 
my duty as a member of this House to attend his funeral. Dr. 
.Stokes was not a resident of the city of Orangeburg, but all 
places of business were closed out of respect to his memory 
during his funeral. All classes from every section of his own 
and adjoining counties were there to show their appreciation of 
him who had served them so faithfully and so well. 

Of his services in this body I shall not attempt to speak, 
because his colaborers are better fitted for that duty. .Suffice it 
for me to say that a man of his moral. Christian character 
could not have done less than his duty as God gave him light 
to see it. This leads me to refer not to I >r. Stokes nor to 
Congressman Stokes, but to Mr. Stokes, the modest, unas- 
suming, Christian gentleman. The official clergyman at the 
funeral read one of the beautiful Psalms of David, and stated 
that it was the chapter read by Mr. Stokes when he erected in 
his home an altar to the living God. Would that every man 
in an office of honor and trust recognized his responsibility to 
and dependence on God. and would erect in his home an altar 
to Him. 

Referring to the funeral, the text was: 

For I know whom I have believed, Mini am persuaded that IK- is able 
ep that which 1 have committed unto Him against that day. 



Address of Mr. Johnson, of South Carolina. 51 

These were the words spoken by Mr. Stokes when the 
chill, cold hand of death was upon him and he was entering 
the valley of the shadow of death. What a sublime and 
beautiful faith ; what a happy ending of life's battles ! 

The highest compliment that can be paid any man is to be 
able to sa}' of him that he was a Christian gentleman. I 
believe that the late J. William Stokes was a Christian 
gentleman. 



52 Life and Character of J, William Stokes. 



Address of Mr. Lamb, of Virginia. 

Mr. Speaker: In the meridian of life, with a promising 
future before him, enjoying the confidence and respect of loyal 
friends and a confiding constituency, surrounded with the com- 
forts of home and the sweet companionship of a devoted wife, 
J. William Stokes was called from earth to the abode of the 
just. On the 7th of July, iyoi, a telegram reached me at my 
home in Virginia, requesting my attendance at his funeral in 
Orangeburg, S. C. It was a shock, but not a great surprise, 
for I had observed with deep regret his declining health. I 
shall ever regret that the information came too late for me to 
join my colleagues from the other States and be present when 
all that was mortal of our friend was laid in the silent tomb. 

It was my good fortune to serve with Representative Stokes 
on the Agricultural Committee. This gave me an insight to 
his character and ability that a large number of this House could 
not enjoy. We know and appreciate the strong ties of friend- 
ship that are formed through association with the members of 
our own committees, as well as the opportunity this association 
affords for estimating the character of the members of the House. 
It is in the committee room that the legislation of the House is 
shaped and perfected. The quiet, painstaking work of the com- 
mitteeman counts for much more than the speeches, too often 
delivered simply for the effect they may have in the Representa- 
tive's district. This was the work suited to the taste of mil- 
deceased friend, and I bear willing testimony to his valuable 
services in this direction. For this work he was well equipped 
by training and temperament. 

While for the most part we were in accord on the questions 



Address of Mr. Lamb, of Virginia. 53 

that arose in our committee, I call to mind one important 
subject on which we differed widely, and I bear in mind his 
gentle forbearance when his own views were combated, and 
his patience in listening to the arguments of those who opposed 
him. 

Our friend died with his harness on. On more than one 
occasion I urged him to obtain leave of absence and go home 
for rest and treatment. He was a physician and would have 
given this advice to anyone else. I suggested to his watchful 
and patient wife that she might be able to persuade him to 
seek relief in entire rest, but her entreaties were in vain, so 
determined was he to remain at his post of duty as long as 
his strength would endure. Even after reaching home upon 
the adjournment of the Fifty-sixth Congress he devoted his 
time and taxed his energies for the welfare of his people. 

I learned this through a rural free-delivery inspector who 
laid out several routes for me in the fall of 1901. When I 
ascertained that he had been through Xorth and South Carolina 
I inquired after my colleagues and particularly as to the last 
days of Representative Stokes. This gentleman spoke in the 
highest terms of him, saying that he insisted on going with 
him over every route, though it was apparent that he was 
suffering and evident to all that he could not long stand the 
constant strain that he seemed determined to put forth. He 
was deeply interested in the rural free delivery, as the speech 
he made on the floor of the House will demonstrate. I have 
referred to his committee work; while this was performed with 
diligence and effectiveness, he was ready on all proper occasions 
to express himself with force and earnestness upon all questions 
arising in the House. 

His reserve and modesty were known to his colleagues. So 
far as I could observe he was free from the twin vices that mar 
human character — envy and jealousy. 



54 Life and Character of J. William Stokes. 

The wisest man who ever lived said, " Envy is rottenness of 
bones." Again he said. " Who is able to stand before envy? " 
Pilate knew that from envy the priests and elders of the people 
delivered Jesus into the hands of the enraged populace. The 
Philistines envied the amiable and gentle Isaac. Rachel envied 
her sister. For less cause perhaps many a modern Rachel is 
to-day filled with envy and uncharitableness. Joseph's brethren 
envied him; and all over this land to-day, in city and country, 
in church and state, in private and public life, men envy their 
fellows. 

Base Envy withers at another's joy, 

And hates that excellence it can not reach. 

Jealousy is the apprehension of superiority, and is often 
converted into envy. Men who have served in the Army, 
particularly officers, know something of this evil passion. It 
has lost many battles and sacrificed many valuable lives. Men 
in public life are often afflicted with this passion. In years 
gone by it was a fruitful source of duels; now it finds vent in 
detraction, misrepresentation, and slander. The Good Book 
tells us, "Jealousy is the rage of a man." Again. "Jealousy 
is cruel as the grave." Evil spirits laugh in fiendish delight 
when, through the influences they appear to wield, they have 
worked up a desperate case of jealousy. 

Beware, my lord, of jealousy! 

It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock 
The meat it feeds on. 

I come now t<> speak of his higher nature ami "holier 
chivalry." A religious philosopher once observed that — 

In Christianity, and in Christianity alone, can be discovered character 
in harmonious wholeness; at once the "righteous man,'* high in the 
practice of all social virtues, stern in the inflexible] adhesion to the utter 

right; and the "g 1 man." who has won for himself a revenue of 

affection, at whose name men's eye- sparkle and their spirits glow as if 
a sunbeam arlinted in. 



Address of Mr. Lamb, of Virginia. 55 

( )ur friend possessed this "harmonious wholeness." He 
was an earnest Christian. He preserved in his associations 
and public life the same devotion to his religious obligations 
that he practiced at home and among his friends. To resist 
the allurements of the world and keep a conscience void of 
offense requires strong convictions and resolute will power. 
He who can safely pass this ordeal in public life is indeed a 
hero and will wear the victor's wreath at the last. 

No one can fully discern the spiritual relations between a 
man and his Maker. We can only judge a tree by its fruits. 
From all that we could see and learn of our lamented col- 
league we rest assured that he kept himself ' ' unspotted from 
the world . ' ' 

We believe if a man die he shall live again, and that the 
spirit of our friend has passed into the city of everlasting 
peace. 

His day is conic, not gone; 

His sun has risen, not set; 

His life is now beyond 
• The reach of death or change, 

Not ended, but begun. 

Among the many lovable traits of character possessed l>y 
our colleague, who has preceded us only a short time, perhaps, 
to the spirit land, was his gentleness. This is no afterthought 
of mine or those who unite with us to-day in these sorrowful 
and not purely perfunctory ceremonies, but was observed often 
and sometimes commented on, for every man here is estimated 
according to his real worth and character. We would do well 
to lay this thought to heart. 

Gentleness is the crowning virtue of man. It is the sun- 
shine of the soul. It is the beautiful blending of many 
virtues. It conies from the heart and is not a product of the 
intellect. It is often assumed, but, like every other counter- 
feit, is sooner or later detected. It is the natural charm of 



56 Life and Character of J. William Stokes. 

women, but shows its true force or power in strong men who 
have thought well and struggled hard for their fellows. Its 
force is potential in the hours of sadness and affliction. It is 
linked with sympathy and finds an active field in the heroic 
struggles of the altruistic reformers of this age. 

If ever you have looked on better days, 

If ever been where bells have knelled to church, 

If ever sat at any good man's feast. 

If ever from your eyelids wiped a tear. 

And know what 'tis to pity and be pitied, 

Let gentleness my strong enforcement be. 

In emulating the gentle virtues and shunning the weak- 
nesses — if he had them — of our lamented friend, let us seek 
to promote the welfare of those who have clothed us with 
grave responsibilities, and in the end deserve the just tributes 
we now pay to his memory. 

With tender recollections of our departed colleague, we pray 
that peace and happiness may follow her who bears his image 
in her heart and binds his memory to earth. 



Address of Mr. Thomas, of North Carolina. 57 



Address of Mr. Thomas, of North Carolina. 

Mr. Speaker: Amid the cares and responsibilities, the tri- 
umphs and disappointments, and the changing scenes of political 
life, we pause a while to-day to pay a slight but appropriate 
tribute of respect and love to one who for six years was an hon- 
ored and esteemed member of this House and a faithful Repre- 
sentative of his people and the State of South Carolina. 

As the years pass like summer clouds, one after another cf 
those whom we have known and esteemed in this House enter 
the dark valley of the shadow of death and depart to that "un- 
discovered country from whose bourne no traveler returns." 

In accordance with the resolution of the House, we suspend 
to-day its order of business, and remembering the virtues, the 
patriotism, and the conscientious service of Dr. J. William 
Stokes, we lay upon his tomb in the Palmetto State a wreath 
of immortelles. I did not know Dr. Stokes so well as his 
colleagues from his State, South Carolina, or so intimately 
as those who served upon the same committees with him, but I 
knew of him before my first election to Congress on account of 
his connection with and great interest in the rural free-delivery 
service. He was one of the strongest advocates of this service 
which has proven of such great benefit to the people who live 
in the country, giving to them a daily mail and newspapers, 
and bringing them in quick communication with the cities and 
towns and in closer touch with the current events of the world. 

My association with Dr. Stokes in the Fifty-sixth Congress 
was exceedingly pleasant, and I formed a high opinion of his 
integrity, character, and fidelity to his trust. I served upon 
the committee of this House in attendance upon his funeral. 
A graduate of Washington and Lee University in Virginia, in 



58 Life and Character of J. William Stokes. 

[876, and later in medicine of Vanderbilt University, Tennes- 
see, his natural inclination seemed toward public life, and his 
sympathies were especially with the agricultural people, the 
farmers of his State, whom he served for two terms a> presi- 
dent of the State Alliance. 

He was State senator, delegate at large to the national 
Democratic convention at Chicago in 1892, Presidential 
elector, and a member of the Fifty-fourth, Fifth-fifth, Fifty- 
sixth, and Fifty-seventh Congresses. In the closing days of 
the Fifty-sixth Congress it was apparent to his devoted wife 
and his friends that his health was failing, so that the sad 
news of his death at his home in Orangeburg in July, 1901, 
soon after his entrance upon his fourth term as a member 
of Congress, was not wholly unexpected. 

And yet how few of us ever expect the coming of this 
greatest of all changes in our human lives, the final sepa- 
ration from the bright scenes, the joys, the sorrows, the 
activities, the ambitions of the world, and our transition to 
another sphere of existence, borne upon and across the wide 
and fathomless ocean of eternity. 

Whither we go, we know not. We only know that heathen 
as well as Christian philosophers, since the days of Socrates 
and Plato, have taught that death i> but a transition: and 
we can only look up and beyond the mists and shadows which 
surround the dark valley into the sunshine which rest*- above 
and beyond, and with confident faith in the teachings oi 
the dnane Master exclaim: 

And though from nut the bourne 

of time Mini space 
Tlie flood may bear me far, 

I hope to meet my Pilot lace to face 
When 1 have crossed the bar. 

Those who love and serve their fellow-men may pass from 
tlie stage of action, but they still live in the affection and 



Address of Mr. Thomas, of North Carolina. 59 

undying" memories of their fellow-citizens; and so, I am 
sure if loyalty to conviction and duty, if fidelity to trust, if 
Christian manhood, if service to his fellow-men can prepare 
a man for transition to a higher and nobler existence, and 
cause his memory to survive the mighty change of death, then 
our late colleague in this Chamber, to whom we pay tribute 
to-day, still lives in his work and his example. 

At his home in Orangeburg. S. C. upon the streets, at the 
church of which he was an active and beloved member, throngs 
of his fellow-citizens assembled to manifest their love for him 
and deep grief in the loss they had sustained. He seemed to 
be, and he was, in the very zenith of his popularity and useful- 
ness when the end came, and he still lives in the affections of 
the people of his district and State. 

He has only passed from earth to some happier existence. 
Death for him was but transition, and we believe that in the 
" silence of the receding world he heard the great waves break- 
ing upon the farther shore and felt upon his wasted brow the 
breath of Heaven's eternal morning." 

There is no death! the stars go down 

To rise upon some other shore. 
And bright in Heaven's jeweled crown 

They shine torevermore. 

There is no death! the forest leaves 

Convert to life the viewless air; 
The rocks disorganize to feed 

The hungry moss they bear. 

There is no death! the dust we tread 

Shall change beneath the summer showers. 

To golden grain or mellow fruits, 
1 ir rainbow-tinted flowers. 

There is no death! the leaves may fall, 
The flowers may fade and pass away — 

Thev only wait through wintry hours, 
The warm, sweet breath of May. 



6o Life and Character of J. William Stokes. 



Address of Mr. Candler, of Mississippi. 

Mr. Speaker: I always have a feeling of solemnity on 
occasions like this, when I realize I am in the presence of death. 
Great minds have traveled through life in awe at the thought of 
death, and Queen Elizabeth cried out, "All my possessions for a 
moment's time!" Burns called death " the poor man's friend." 
and Byron, when the end came, said: "I must sleep now." 
Mrs. Hemans truly proclaims: 

Leaves have their time to fall, 
And flowers to wither at the north-wind's breath. 

And stars to set; but all, 
Thou hast all seasons for thine own, O Death! 

We can not understand it, and we will never know why here, 
"for now we see through a glass darkly," but by and by we 
shall know, "for then I shall know even as I am known." 
Hence " Tis not the whole of life to live, nor all of death to 
die." I am here to join in paying a tribute to the life and 
character of the Hon. J. William Stokes, late an honored 
and beloved Representative in this House from the State of 
South Carolina. I had not an extensive or long acquaintance 
with Dr. Stokes. He lived in my home city of Corinth, Miss., 
about twenty years ago, and was the principal of the graded 
schools during his residence there. 

I felt highly honored when I received an invitation from his 
widow, through the gentleman from South Carolina [Mr. Lever] , 
to deliver an address on this occasion, and as I did not live in 
Corinth when Dr. Stokes resided there, I at once wrote to some 
prominent gentlemen there about him, and I am going to take 
the liberty of quoting from their replies. He was a teacher 



Address of Mr. Candler, of Mississippi. 61 

while there, and it is of that period in his life I shall especially 
speak. The first letter from which I quote is fjrom Hon. Thomas 
E. Henry, the present mayor of Corinth. He says: 

It was my pleasure to know the Hon. J. William Stokes quite inti- 
mately while he was a resident of Corinth. I was the clerk of the board 
of mayor and aldermen at the time he taught school here, and this gave 
me an opportunity to know him well. He was not only a thoroughly 
educated man, but a very practical one. 

He was the founder of graded schools in Corinth. It was the custom 
when he came here to prorate the public school fund to every private 
school in town. He questioned the propriety as well as the legality of 
this practice, and in a short while had the support of the people as well 
as the authorities in favor of using the public fund exclusively in support 
of the public graded schools. He established such a reputation for hon- 
estv. integrity, conservatism, and ability that he was placed in absolute 
control of the entire school interests and school funds of the city, and 
was allowed to conduct the school according to his best judgment, and 
permitted to select his own faculty. He was a strict disciplinarian, but 
at the same time he was kind and gentle, and one of the most amiable 
of men. He lived up to his professions in both temporal and spiritual 
affairs. He was a true man, an excellent teacher, an exemplary citizen, 
and a consistent Christian. 

I now quote from a letter written me by Hun. J. M. Boone, 
a prominent attorney of Corinth. He says: 

Hon. J. William Stokes lived here several years, and was during that 
time principal of our public free school. He was very competent and 
extraordinarily energetic. He was, I think, as progressive and perse- 
vering as any man we have ever had here in any line of work. By his 
ability he built up the public school interest that finds such strong hold 
in our city now. When he took charge here our people did not seem to 
rightly appreciate the benefits of an education for their children, but 
never since his stay with us have I seen a disposition on the part of our 
people to lag in this work. 

He was a consistent Christian gentleman. He possessed strong will 
powei and was persistent in his views about his profession. I never 
heard a remark against his honesty of purpose or a reflection upon his 
daily life. His life here showed him to be a leader rather than a follower 
of men. He was open, frank, and candid in all his dealings. In all of 
his proposed public measures he never seemed to have anything to con- 
ceal, but dealt with the subject in an open, frank way, and presented his 
views with the utmost candor. 



62 Life and Character of J. William Stokes. 

The following quotation is from the letter of my family 
physician, a most .excellent and elegant gentleman. Dr. Charles 
M. Taylor, of Corinth. He says: 

I am very glad you were requested to say something of Dr. STOKES I 
went to school to him. He was a great teacher and a most excellent gen- 
tleman. He was an honest, upright man of undoubted integrity, a man 
who loved right and abhorred wrong, one who when mistaken had the 
manhood to acknowledge it, who when right had the moral and ph; 
courage to maintain it. He was a teacher of great ability. He possessed 
the happy faculty of being able to impart what he knew in a forcible and 
pleasing way to the student. He deserved and received the good will, 
respf « t. and admiration of the pupils and patrons of the school so long as 
he remained in our midst without, so far as I know, a single exce] 
His life was such as to lead me to believe he was a devout, true, and 
sincere Christian. 

I was, as a student, very intimate with Dr. STOKES for two years 
had a most excellent opportunity to observe his "daily walk and conversa- 
tion." and he was in all above criticism or reproach. I never heard him 
discuss relig.ous subjects or mention God but what he did it with that 
becoming reverence due from the creature to the Creator, from a sinner 
saved by grace to his Lord and Master. His was a beautiful character. 
worthy of all emulation. You can not say to., much of Dr. STOKES. He 
wis a true, manly man, a perfect gentleman, an excellent citizen, and 
a devout Christian. 

The next quotation is from the letter of Dr. Theodore 
Borroum, an accomplished and cultured physician of Corinth. 
He says: 

1 was too young to know much of Dr. STOKES when be lived lure. 
I have, however, inquired of a great many citizens who did know him 
and who now remember him well since I received your letter asking 
me about him. All with one accord speak in the highest terms of him 
as a man, a teacher, and a Christian gentleman. He taught here some- 
thing like twenty years ago and was the principal of the city schools. 
He was eminently successful as an educator. I am sure you may pa\ him 
the highest encomiums and not speak extravagantly of him. Corinth 
owes much to his wise counsel and effective work. He made bis impress 
01 good, and the present most excellent graded schools in our city 
are an enduring monument to his memory and a blessing to humanity. 

I have preferred to copy these letters verbatim rather than 
otherwise use- the information brought to me by them, and 
having done so. I could well stop at this point, for I can pay 



Address of Mr. Candler, of Mississippi. 63 

no higher eulogy than these testimonials to the life and char- 
acter of this great and good man. Here is a verification of 
that divine truth, "By their fruits ye shall know them." 
This man, wherever he lived, left his impress for good. He 
used well his opportunities as a teacher to rightly store the 
mind and soul of the young with aspirations for loftier things. 
There is no nobler, higher, or better calling or profession than 
that of teacher. He who properly instructs, guides, and directs 
the youth, male and female, of the country is a blessing to 
humanity, an honor to the world, and a coworker with our 
Father above. 

Dr. Stokes was a success in this exalted profession, and it 
prepared him for wider usefulness and for greater endeavors in 
the field of statesmanship. He was a leader — "a voice, not an 
echo" — and faithfully and well did he lead onward and upward 
in things temporal and spiritual. To such a man life was a 
fjeld of noble activity to prepare for better things by and by, and 
death had no terrors. The Christ said, " He that believeth on 
me hath everlasting life." He believed on Him, he trusted in 
Him, and he simply passed through the "valley of the shadow 
of death" out into the fuller, purer, and never-ending life in 
the presence of Him above. The life and character of such a 
man is encouraging and uplifting: the death of such a man 
i- sublime and beautiful. In life he dispelled cloud-;, he 
scattered sunshine. 

He was busy, he was useful. He continually did that which 
was good. He constrained people into better ways. He was 
sincere in all his purposes, and was not a passive influence, but 
an aggressive, active, force. He performed his task faithfully, 
and has gone to his reward. His life was beautiful, and its 
close here and its passing through the shadows exemplified the 
"beauty of death." The mystery of life and the mystery of 
death met and blended into a transcendent light that brilliantly 



64 Life and Character of J. William Stokes. 

illuminated the pathway to that rest "beneath the shade of the 
trees," in the "heaven of eternal bliss." Mississippi mingles 
her tears with South Carolina on the grave of her honored and 
beloved dead, and plants a most beautiful flower which shall 
ever be blooming and fragrant in our memories. 

With our united hearts of sympathy we offer condolence to 
the bereaved widow, and would comfort her with the thought, 
' ' Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth ; 
yea, saith the spirit, that they may rest from their labors; and 
their works do follow them. ' ' He rests from his labors, but 
his works still live; they follow him, and they are for good. 
" He being dead, yet speaketh," and in his works and speech 
he has exemplified and is exemplifying the true man, the per- 
fect gentleman, the faithful public servant, and the devout 
Christian. In truthfulness we can say his life was a success, 
and that truthful epitaph is a "halo of glory" for any life 
which will not grow dim e'en with eternity. 

His life and death in their beauty emphasized a great truth, 
and that truth is that no one can be truly great unless that 
greatness is used to advance that which is truly good. Would 
that all would properly realize and appreciate that truth. It 
contains the climax of a successful life, and without it life is a 
dismal and never-ending failure. One's life and death can and 
should always be beautiful; and it can be so by simple faith in a 
crucified and risen Lord, the fruits of which must be doing the 
best and most we can for others while on this earth and a crown 
cf righteousness at God's right hand in the mansions above. 
Such was the life of the Hon. J. William Stokks. 

Mourn not the dead whose lives declare 

That they have nobly borne their part, 
For victory's golden crown they wear, 

Reserved for every faithful heart. 
They rest with glory wrapped around, 

Immortal on the scroll of fame; 
Their works their praises --hall resound. 

Their name, an everlasting name. 



Address of Mr. Candler, of Mississippi. 65 

As life's battle ended the Hon. J. William Stokes, with 
the great Apostle to the Gentiles, could triumphantly exclaim: 
" I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have 
kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of 
righteousness which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give 
me at that da}-; and not to me only, but unto all them that love 
His appearing." 

He is gone, but when he departed he held — 

That golden key 
That opes the palace of eternity. 

"He is dead, but he ever liveth," for — 

He has but passed 

Beyond the mist that blinds us here, 
Into the newer and larger life 

Of that serenes sphere. 

And ever near us, though unseen, 

The dear, immortal spirits tread, 
For all the boundless universe 

Is life! There are no dead. 

H. Doc. 713 5 



66 Life and Cliaracter of J. William Stokes. 



ADDRESS OF MR. TALBERT, OF SOUTH CAROLINA. 
Mr. Speaker: I can add but little to what has been said 
by my colleagues, and it might possibly be a sufficient eulogy 
upon my dear friend to say that I have come from a sick 
bed to be present on this occasion; but that will not satisfy 
in any degree my own feelings in this 'matter. Yea. I am 
almost constrained to repeat the words of a warm friend of 
Tom Moore, who said of him: 

Were 't the last drop in the well, 

As I gasp'd upon the brink, 
Ere my fainting spirit fell, 

'Tis to thee that I would drink. 

In the gloom and sorrow that overshadows us to-day. when 
meditating upon the departure of our friend, these words 
have suggested themselves to me, and I have not other words 
more adequate to express my high appreciation of the noble 
character of the deceased in adding this humble tribute to 
his memory in addition to those paid him by his other 
colleagues. 

The Grim Reaper has again visited us and taken one of 
our number, and according to a long time-honored custom we 
are convened to-day to do honor to and pay the last tribute 
to one of our late associates, only yesterday with us, so to 
speak, who now lies with restful hands in the cold and silent 
grave. These occasions are always sad and solemn, giving 
us cause for reflection. It is a sad and mournful thought 
to lose any member of this House, it matters not from what 
State of the Union he may come. But it is sadder still when 
death comes closer home to us and claims as its victim one 



Address of Mr. Talbcrt, of South Carolina. 67 

from our own State, from our own home — one of our own 
delegation, one of our colleagues, one of our brothers, one of 
our intimate friends, one with whom we have associated for 
years. We are all brethren in a sense, but the members of 
a delegation from any particular State are brethren and friends 
in a peculiar sense. 

While a member of Congress represents the interests of 
all the people at lary;e in a general way, in a more particular 
sense does he represent the people of his own State and 
district. And colleagues who have been working for days, 
months, and even years for the good of the people of their 
own .State are drawn closer together, and ties of friendship 
and fellow-feeling are thereby made that are hard indeed to 
break. This was the case with the South Carolina delegation 
U ward the man whom we are attempting to speak about 
to-day. 

A seat has been made vacant in this delegation (though now 
filled honorably and efficiently by a good and worthy young 
man, following in the footpaths of his illustrious predecessor); 
a chair has been draped in mourning; a voice has been silenced; 
a heart has ceased to beat; a life has been cut off by which this 
House has lost one of its most useful members, the countrv one 
of its most ardent defenders, the people of South Carolina ( the 
masses) one of their best and truest friends, and a most noble 
and devoted wife bereft of her beloved husband, whom she 
almost idolized and who in turn was just as devoted and mind- 
ful of her. This man was the Hon. J. William Stokks. of 
Orangeburg, S. C, whose honor it has been to represent the 
Seventh district of that State from the 4th day of March, 1895, 
till the day of his death, which occurred on the 6th day of 
July, 1 901. 

The summons from on high came and called him away from 
us and from the life he lived, but we are led to believe that he 



6S Life and Character of J. William Stokes. 

is now with his Master, whom he loved to serve on earth, in a 
more blissful field of glory and heavenly love. While living 
here you have only to review his record to see how well he 
served his country and how ably he represented the people of 
the Seventh district, who have ever loved and honored him in 
his lifetime, and who now hold sacred his memory, which will 
live on as long as time shall last. In giving a condensed 
sketch of the life of this good man I feel that I can do no 
better than to' reproduce the short biographical sketch given of 
him in the Congressional Directory, as follows, being only a 
short outline of his illustrious career: 

J. William Stokks, of Orangeburg, was born in Orangeburg County, 
S. C, in 1S53; was brought up to farm life, attending the ordinary schools 
of his county and town until he was 19 years of age; graduated from 
Washington and Lee University, Virginia, in 1876, and taught school for 
twelve years, graduating in the meantime from Vanderbilt University, 
Tennessee, in medicine; in 1S89 he returned to the farm, assisted in 
organizing the farmers, and was president of the State Fanners' Alliance 
two terms; was elected to the State senate in 1S90; was a delegate at large 
to the national Democratic convention at Chicago in 1S92, and was Presi- 
dential elector on the Democratic ticket the same year; was defeated for 
tlie Democratic nomination in the old First Congressional district in 1S92 
by a small majority; in 1S94 was nominated without opposition in the 
Democratic primaries in the new Seventh Congressional district, which is 
nearly the same as the old First district. He received the certificate of 
election to the Fifty-fourth Congress, but the seat was declared vacant. 
At the election on November 3, [896, he was elected to the short term of 
the Fifty-fourth Congress, was reelected to the Fifty-fifth Congress, and 
also to the Fifty-sixth and Fifty-seventh Congresses. 

To know Dr. Stokes well was but to love him much. It 
was my good fortune to know him quite intimately, having 
been associated with him in the State work of the Farmers' 
Alliance, of which he was the president, while I was State lec- 
turer, before we came to Congress together. While he was an 
extremely modest and somewhat reserved man, yet at the same 
time, when the necessity would arise, none were more aggres- 
sive and bold, none more determined and energetic. He was 



Address of Mr. Talbert, of South Carolina. 69 

possessed of a high and laudable ambition and worked his wax- 
up by energy and industry from the humblest walks of life to a 
seat in the United States Congress, and it may be truthfully 
said that during his service here he has always been ready and 
willing to take good care of the interests of the good people of 
the Seventh district, whom he had been called to represent. 

He was a man of a high degree of intelligence and refine- 
ment. He was a strictly temperate and sober man, and pos- 
sessed of wonderful will power and determination for one of his 
physical ability, being rather frail and delicate. I can now 
recall how often his colleagues would tell him during the last 
session of Congress he attended that he ought to go home and 
rest, but he would not. He was an active and consistent mem- 
ber of the Methodist Church; naturally pious, liberal in his 
views as well as in his contributions; a man of firm and decided 
religious opinion; an all-round, earnest, useful, and zealous 
worker in the Master's vineyard, and it can be said that 
Orangeburg was draped in mourning on the day of his death. 

It was my sad duty to attend his funeral, held in the Metho- 
dist Church at Orangeburg, of which he was a member, and I 
will never forget the large concourse of people assembled to do 
him honor. Well do I recall the words of the text announced 
by his pastor, which had been selected by himself before his 
death. It was part of the twelfth verse, first chapter of Paul's 
second epistle to Timothy, in these words: 

For I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to 
keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day. 

Oh, whence and what, if not of God, is this mystery we call 
mind? What is it that thinks and feels and knows and acts? 
Who can deny the divinity that stirs within us? He clung 
fast to the hand that led him, though sometimes it was in 
darkness, though it was sometimes in deep waters, yet he knew 



jo Life and Character of f. William Stokes. 

whom he had believed, and felt persuaded that he could and 
would keep all that which he had confidingly committed to 
Him against that day. 

From these impressive words the venerable pastor preached 
one of the most feeling funeral sermons to which I ever lis- 
tened, and after it there were very few dry eyes in the vast 
audience. It was a solemn occasion, and as I sat there medi- 
tating upon the death of my dear friend I could but recall to 
mind his many noble traits of character, and to rejoice that he 
died the death of the righteous, and being comforted with the 
language: "Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from 
henceforth: that they may rest from their labours: and their 
works do follow them." The Methodist Church has sustained 
a great loss in the death of this good man, and while we lament 
we believe the good Lord has taken him to Himself in glory, 
and that he is now basking in the sunshine of His love. 

We shall miss him, the country will miss him. the House 
mioses him. South Carolina will feel the loss: his many friends 
mourn over him, his relatives look in vain for his coming, the 
poor will feel their loss; but most of all and beyond all he will 
be missed by that dear, good, noble, conscientious, and Chris- 
tian woman whom it was his good fortune to woo and win for 
a life companion, that most estimable, highly cultivated, and 
refined lady who was his helpmeet, who sat opposite him at 
table, who presided over his lovely home, who was always with 
him — sometimes at the banquet, sometimes at the funeral. 
sometimes at the bedside of the sick, but always with him until 
his death, like a ministering angel. And now, in this hour of 
profound sorrow and bereavement, we would extend to her 
most of all our heartfelt sympathy and condolence. It was 
never my fortune to witness greater or more affectionate 
devotion between man and wife. 



Address of Mr. Talbert, of South Carolina. 71 

He was not blessed with any children of his own, but he was 
the benefactor of a great many poor children, having educated 
a score of young men in his day and time. He loved and 
helped the children of his community. 

But Hon. J. William Stokes is no more; he has gone; 
we are nevermore to meet him, nor to work with him, nor to 
enjoy his company in this world. But let us remember that 
while he can not come back to us, we may meet him in that 
happy land, if we will, where parting is 110 more, and where 
the weary are ever at rest. After all, our sorrow is Heaven's 
joy. Our loss is his gain, for his faith in the God who rules 
the destiny of nations as well as individuals has enabled him to 
fall asleep in this world of sorrow to awake in a brighter and 
better land, where he can receive that welcome plaudit, "Well 
done, thou good and faithful servant; enter thou into the joys 
of thy Lord. ' ' 

While he is dead, his influence as a representative of the 
people still lives, and, far better than that, his example as an 
humble follower of his Lord and Master stands out in bold re- 
lief as a rich legacy to all those he has left behind, leading 
them to a realization of the saying that " 'Tis not the whole of 
life to live, nor all of death to die." His many good and noble 
examples are well worthy of emulation by all of us, especially 
by the young men. Then, as we ponder over the life and 
character of our departed friend and colleague, who rose from 
the humblest walks of life by perseverance and toil to promi- 
nence, serving his people all the while honestly and faithfully, 
and leaving them, above all things else, a noble Christian 
example, let us in our ambition to do something and be some- 
thing in the world feel encouraged by this man's career and 
learn the lesson he has taught us, that — 

Honor and shame from no condition rise; 
Act well your part, there all the honor lies. 



72 Life and Character of J. William Siokcs. 

Mr. Lever. Mr. Speaker, quite a number of gentlemen de- 
sired to say something on this occasion, but have been unable 
to be present. I ask unanimous consent that members may 
have thirty days in which to print remarks in the Record on 
the late Representative Stokes. 

The Speaker pro tempore (Mr. Elliott i. The gentleman 
from South Carolina asks unanimous consent that leave for 
thirty days be granted members to print eulogies in the Record 
on the late Representative Stokes. Is there objection? [After 
a pause.] The Chair hears none. 



Address of Mr. McCall, of Massachusetts. 73 



ADDRESS OF MR. MCCALL, OF MASSACHUSETTS. 

Mr. Speaker: I avail myself of the leave granted by the 
House to put upon its records a few words attempting to 
express, although most inadequately, my appreciation of the 
character of the Hon. J. William Stokes, late a member of 
Congress from the State of South Carolina. 

I did not know Mr. Stokes prior to his election to this 
House, but I became acquainted with him soon after he took 
his seat in the Fifty-fourth Congress. It happened that his 
election to that Congress was contested and that the contest 
was referred to a committee of which I was a member. I had 
an opportunity to observe him under trying circumstances. 

I was struck with his placid dignity, his serenity, his patience, 
and his quiet courage. His was a fine and gracious presence, 
and yet he was a man likely to get credit for less ability than 
he really possessed. There was nothing spectacular or showy 
about him. He was not given to self-exploitation, but those 
who knew him best had no difficulty in discerning the excellent 
capacity which had given him so large a measure of success and 
which seemed to justify the hope of his friends of even higher 
success in the future, if his life had been spared. What most 
impresssd me about him was the happy temper which, after he 
had done his utmost, led him to accept apparently without com- 
plaint or without elation whatever the result might be, as if he 
clearly saw that the real greatness lay in the nobility of the 
struggle and in the uncomplaining acceptance of what came 
after his own responsibility had ended. He would have mod- 
estly filled a higher place with the ability equal to it, just as he 



74 Life and Character of J. William Stokes. 

would have accepted a more obscure lot without repining. He 
seemed to me to have lived according to the philosophy in the 
noble words of Wordsworth: 

If thou indeed derive thy light from heaven, 

Shine poet, in thy place and be content; 

The star that from the zenith darts its beams, 

Visible though it be to half the earth. 

Though half a sphere be conscious of its brightness, 

Is yet of no diviner origin, 

No purer essence, than the one that burns, 

Like an untended watch fire, on the ridge 

( M some dark mountain, or than those which seem 

Humbly to hang, like twinkling winter lamps, 

Among the branches of the leafless trees. 



Address of Mr. Small, of North Carolina. 75 



ADDRESS OF MR. SMALL, OF NORTH CAROLINA. 

Mr. Speaker: Oh this day, when we have come to pay a 
tribute to the memory of our friend, I believe that my own 
emotions would receive greater satisfaction if I could visit the 
new-made grave in his native State and silently recall his 
virtues and recount our loss and that of his State. Words 
are so often vain things. They may conceal the emotions or 
they may express the sincerest sorrow; they may be insincere 
or they may come as utterances warm and pathetic from the 
true heart; they may be cold and impassive or warm and im- 
pulsive; they may conceal thought or they may be the acme of 
candor and truth. While it is only natural 'to approach the 
bier with reverence and solemnity, and the impulse of every 
manly heart is to speak nothing but good of the dead, yet 
undue laudation and the painting of an ideal life are equally 
to be avoided. How wise and satisfying a course it would 
be if we should speak of the living nothing that we would be 
unwilling to speak of the dead. This rule of conduct would 
not only promote our own happiness, but would remove so 
many of the rancors, the acerbities, and the disagreeable 
episodes which so often beset the living, particularly those 
whose ambitions and activities bring them to the front and 
keep them in the public eye. 

Dr. Stokes, as his colleagues loved to call him, perhaps came 
near exemplifying this rule in his daily life. I can not recall in 
my association with him during the Fifty-sixth Congress, and 
it was my pleasure to be his friend and to some extent his com- 
panion, that I ever heard him utter an unkind word about any- 
one. Being a man of culture and information and high mental 



76 Life and Character of J. William Stokes. 

training, he entertained clear-cut opinions upon public questions 
and had the courage and the ability to maintain them; but his 
differences arose from reflection and judgment, and being honest 
and candid himself, he never questioned the motives of those 
with whom he differed. 

The only life worth living is that which is stirred by ambition 
and which is fortified and promoted by industry. But the object 
must be worthy and the methods must be honorable. After all 
the main purpose sought is contentment and happiness. Some 
follow a mistaken ideal and never reach the goal. Wealth, posi- 
tion, and power do not always bring these two jewels. He who 
carries sunshine along the pathway, who speaks a kind word of 
encouragement to the disconsolate, who condoles with sorrow, 
who remembers the poor, who encourages the struggling, who 
raises the fallen, who stands by the right because it is right, he 
it is who has found contentment and happiness and whose life 
is radiant and beautiful. The man who thus tempers his ambi- 
tion and curbs his will finds genuine pleasure in success and the 
world rejoices with him in his daily progress. 

I believe that Dr. Stokes thus found the true source of 
happiness. Who of us does not recall his sunny disposition 
and his cheerful manner. In addition he had that mental 
equipoise and ready self-control which made him a choice com- 
rade and a valuable ally. His loyalty to his friends was not 
less conspicuous than his adherence to his convictions. 

I shall not dwell upon the varying steps in the career of 
Dr. Stokes. The adverse conditions of his youth and early 
manhood, his loving patience and wisdom as a teacher, his 
political career and promotion in the politics of his native 
State, his incisive and brave work as an editor, the culmina- 
tion of his public life in this House, and the example of his 
daily life as a Christian have been aptly and interestingly 
portrayed by his worthy successor [Mr. Lever]. 



Address of Mr. Small, of North Carolina. 77 

I can not close this imperfect tribute without a reference 
to our friend in his daily life as the faithful and loyal husband. 
My acquaintance with the wife was scarcely less intimate than 
with him as husband. The home and the hearthstone arc the 
basis of a nation's greatness. Marriage is the institution 
blessed of all. and happy are those whose fortunes ami aspira- 
tions are twined into one loving embrace and who thus tread 
life's pathway. Charity to the imperfections of the other, 
loving patience and kindness, loyalty in sickness and in health, 
loving ministrations one to the other, loyalty and fortitude 
in adversity, and mutual joy in the hours of prosperity, all 
crowned with steadfast love — these are the characteristics of 
a happy union. Nothing is more beautiful to contemplate. 
Such a marriage is a benediction to all. 

I have observed many men in the relation of husband, and I 
may say in all candor that I never observed a more beautiful 
life in this respect than that of Dr. Stokes. He was tender 
and considerate in his daily life, and never forgot the little 
attentions and courtesies and thoughtful remembrances which 
always appeal to the gentle wife and evoke the sweetest 
emotions. While always the ideal husband, yet when illness 
came to the partner of his bosom his devotion was unusually 
constant and to his friends a source of inspiration. 

We know that we have lost a friend and his State a valuable 
Representative, but this loss is incomparable to that of the wife. 
For her I pray that the tender memories of the past may sustain 
and comfort the sad and lonely days of the future. 

A good woman who knew both the husband and the wife has 
handed me the following quotation, which fittingly describes 
this beautiful union and the sad parting: 

Sometimes into two hearts great enough to hold it, and into two souls 
where it may forever abide, there comes the Everlasting Love. It is ele- 
mental like the fire and the sea, with the depth and the splendor of the 



7S Life and Character of J. William Stokes. 

surge and the glory of the flame. It makes the world a vast cathedral, in 
which the two may worship, and where even in the darkness there is the 
peace which passeth all understanding, because it is of God. 

When the time of parting comes, for there is always that turning in the 
road, the sadness is not so great because one must goon alone. Life 
grows beautiful after a time, and even wholly sweet, when a man and a 
woman have so lived and loved and worked together that death is not 
good-bye, but rather "auf wiedersehen." 



Proceedings in the Senate. 

January 14, 1902. 

A message communicated to the Senate the intelligence of 

the death of Hon. J. William Stokes, late a Representative 

from the State of South Carolina, and transmitted resolutions 

of the House thereon. 

January 15, 1902. 

Mr. Tillman. Mr. President, I ask the Chair to lay before 
the Senate the resolutions of the House, which I have been 
waiting for some time to call up. 

The Presiding Officer. The resolutions of the House of 
Representatives will be read. 

The Secretary read the resolutions, as follows: 

In the House of Representative. 

January /,-, 1902. 
Resolved, That the House has heard with profound sorrow of the death 
of Hon. J. William Stokes, late a Representative from the State of 
South Carolina. 

Resolved, That as a mark of respect to his memory the House do now 
adji mm. 

Resolved, That the Clerk communicate these resolutions to the Senate. 

Mr. Tillman. Mr. President, I send to the desk resolutions 
which I ask may have immediate consideration. 

The Presiding Officer. The Senator from South Carolina 
asks for the immediate consideration of resolutions which will 
be read. 

The Secretary read the resolutions, as follows: 

Resolved, That the Senate has heard with deep sensibility the announce- 
ment of the death of Hon. J. William STOKES, late a Representative 
from the State of South Carolina. 

Rt solved, That as an additional mark of respect to the memory of the 
deceased the Senate do now adjourn. 

79 



So Proceedings in the Senate. 

The Presiding Officer. The question is on agreeing to the 
resolutions submitted by the Senator from South Carolina. 

The resolutions were unanimously agreed to; and (at i 
o'clock and 50 minutes p. m. ) the Senate adjourned until 
to-morrow, Thursday, January 16, 1902, at 12 o'clock meridian. 

April 28, 1902. 
A message transmitted to the Senate resolutions of the 
House of Representatives commemorative of the life and serv- 
ices of Hon. J. William Stokes, late a Representative from 
the State of South Carolina. 



MEMORIAL ADDRESSES. 

June 3, 1902. 

Mr. Tillman. Mr. President, I desire to give notice that 

on Saturday, the 14th of June, at 4 o'clock p. m., I shall 

sul unit resolutions commemorative of the life and character of 

Hon. J. William Stokks, late a Representative from South 

Carolina, and I shall ask the Senate at that time to suspend 

its business in order that fitting tribute may be paid to his 

memory. 

June 14, 1902. 

Mr. Tillman. Mr. President, I ask that the resolutions 
from the House of Representatives in memory of Dr. Stokes, 
late a member of that body, may be laid before the Senate. 

The Presiding Officer (Mr. Gallinger in the chair). 
The Chair lays before the Senate the resolutions of the House 
of Representatives, which will be read. 

The Secretary read the resolutions, as follows: 

In the House of Representatives, April 26, 1902. 

Resolved, That the business of the House be now suspended that oppor- 
tunity may be given for tributes to the memory of Hon. J. WlUIAM 
STOKES, late a member of the House of Representatives from the State 
of South Carolina. 

Resolved, That as a particular mark of respect to the memory of the 
deceased, and in recognition of his eminent abilities as a distinguished 
public servant, the House, at the conclusion of these memorial proceed- 
ings, shall stand adjourned. 

Resolved, That the Clerk communicate these resolutions to the Senate. 

Resolved, That the Clerk be instructed to send a copy of these resolutions 
to the family of the deceased. 

Mr. Tillman. Mr. President, I offer the resolutions which 
I send to the desk. 

H. Doc. 713 6 Sl 



82 Memorial Addresses. 

The Presiding Officer. The resolutions submitted by the 
Senator from South Carolina will be read. 

The Secretary read the resolutions, as follows: 

Resolved, That the Senate has heard with profound sorrow the announce- 
ment of the death of Hon. J. William Stokes, late a Representative 
from the State of South Carolina. 

Resolved, That the business of the Senate be now suspended in order 
that fitting tributes may be paid to the memory of the deceased. 

Rt solved, That as an additional mark of respect to his memory the 
Senate, at the conclusion of these ceremonies, do adjourn. 



Address of Mr. Tillman, of South Carolina. 83 



Address of Mr. Tillman, of South Carolina. 

Mr. President: The Senate and the House of Representa- 
tives, forming as they do component parts of the legislative 
hranch of the Government, work together in all things where 
the making of laws is concerned. This intimate relationship 
necessarily brings the members of the two bodies into close 
and friendly contact and many lasting friendships have had 
their origin in a committee room of the Capitol. 

Therefore it is that the custom has grown up for both Houses 
to take cognizance of the death of a member of either and to 
pay due respect to the memory of a dead comrade. The 
feeling is somewhat akin to that of attending the funeral of 
a fellow-soldier who has died. Not only his immediate asso- 
ciates attend the last sad rites, but the members of the other 
companies also attend the funeral; and so when a Senator dies 
the House takes part on a subsequent day in paying respect 
to his memory, just as the Senate performs the same duty in 
regard to a dead Representative. 

The Senate pauses in its labors to-day out of respect to a 
member of the lower House — a man not known to very many 
Senators, but one whose character and worth were most highly 
appreciated by those of us who were acquainted with him. 
J. William Stokes, a citizen of South Carolina, and a mem- 
ber of Congress for six years preceding his death, was called 
to his long rest on the 6th day of July, 1901. He was a 
member-elect to the present Congress, and had served the 
people of his district with distinguished ability and zeal during 
his Congressional career. 

The facts of his personal and political history have already 



84 Life and Character of J. William Stokes. 

been set forth in the eulogy pronounced by Mr. A. F. Lever, 
his successor in the House, on the 26th of April last, and they 
will appear in the memorial volume, and as the rehearsal of that 
record in this presence would be but a repetition, I shall not 
dwell upon it. I prefer to speak of my dead friend rather from 
the point of view of a colaborer in a common field and to give 
some estimate of his character as a man than deal with the 
subject from the standpoint of a biographer. Owing to the 
fact that he had left South Carolina immediately after his 
graduation from the Washington and Lee University of 
Virginia, and remained away, following his chosen profession 
as a teacher, until 1889, I had no knowledge of him in his 
earlier manhood. 

I shall always recollect the first time I met him. It was at 
the ' ' March convention ' ' of the farmers' movement in the city 
of Columbia in 1890. He was on the committee to draft a 
platform, and his thorough insight into all the public questions 
then agitating the people of South Carolina and his earnest, 
zealous purpose to present those issues in the best light and 
frame the demands for reform which were pulsating in the 
hearts of our people, so as to minimize opportunities for attack 
and assure so far as practicable the support of all those in 
sympathy with our purpose, made him a marked member of 
the convention. 

South Carolinians ordinarily are very jealous of outsiders, 
and Dr. STOKES'S long absence from the State in tile case of 
some men would have made it impossible that he should have 
exerted any influence; but his modesty and the clearness and 
force with which he presented his ideas and argued any moot 
question silenced any jealous mutterings, and from the first he- 
became a leader in the movement in South Carolina to reform 
the Slate government just as he was soon after among the most 



Address of Mr. Tillman, of South Carolina. 85 

prominent men in the Alliance movement in the State which 
had for its purpose the securing of reforms in the National 
Government. 

While he was not an eloquent speaker, he was forceful and 
logical, and his arguments always carried with them weight, 
if not conviction. Though he was my junior by seven years, 
his temperament was so calm and judicial that I always listened 
to his opinions with deference, and very rarely differed with 
him on public questions. From the first day we met, in 
March, 1890, to the day of his death there was cooperation 
growing into the warmest friendship and closest political 
alliance. In looking back now over those years of arduous 
labor performed together, I recollect not one single incident 
which produced bitterness or distrust; and after our entrance 
upon the national arena, he in the other end of the Capitol 
and I in this, we were thrown together much more intimately 
than had been possible previously, and the admiration which 
his clear and forceful mind had excited was succeeded In- 
most cordial and warm friendship. The better he was known 
the more he was loved and respected. 

It was in this intimate association that I came to understand 
and appreciate the higher and nobler side of the man — not 
but what all of his attributes were high and noble, but I 
allude more particularly to his home life and to his chivalrous 
and almost idolatrous attachment to the noble woman who 
had won his love. It was in the home and in the company 
of his wife that Dr. Stokes shone in his most admirable 
light. Having no children of his own, he was always stealing 
the heart of some child with whom he came in contact, 
and my own little ones learned to love him and to run to 
meet him on his frequent visits with that ardor and abandon- 
ment of joy which a child alone knows how to exhibit. 



86 Life and Character off. William Slokes. 

In the art of winning his way to the hearts of children 
he was not surpassed by any man I have ever known, and no 
student of human nature will ask any higher tribute to his 
character. Children do not love those who are selfish and 
mean; and, guileless themselves, they are not easily deceived 
in their estimate of men and women. I would sooner trust 
the intuition and instincts of a child than depend on the 
judgment of a grown person where character and goodness 
are in question. 

A man of the most refined manners, Dr. Stokes was a 
favorite with all those who came to know him intimately; so 
while the men respected him for his manliness of principle and 
high character, the women were his admiring friends because 
of his chivalry and deference to their sex, while the children 
loved him for his kindliness and sympathetic interest in all of 
their little affairs. 

It would be improper to invade the sacred precincts of his 
desolate home, but the devotion which bound him to his wife, 
the romantic idealized love, so to speak, with which he regarded 
her, made the separation of those two who were certainlv "one 
twain" the more heartrending, I can offer no consolation to 
that widowed heart that will assuage its longing, but it would 
not be improper, perhaps, to say to her that he is only gone 
before, and waits longingly for her coming, and she should 
trj to win comfort out of the sad consciousness that — 

Tis better to have loved and lost, 
Than never to have loved at all. 

The world can not give any compensation for her great loss 
but she is surely happier, or will be happier if she will look at 
it from this poiut of view till the time shall come for their 
reunion. 



Address of Mr. Tillman, of South Carolina. 87 

In looking over my friend's life in its results I am forcibly 
reminded of that sad truth contained in Gray's lines: 

The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power, 
All that beauty, all that wealth e'er gave, 

Await alike the inevitable hour; 

The paths of glory lead— but to the grave. 

Dr. .Stokes was young in years: had scarcely reached the 
meridian of life. His public career had hardly begun, and the 
equipment furnished by years of study and extensive reading 
had promise of rich fruition. He had grown upon the people 
of our State during the twelve years since his return among 
us. and while the bitter strife which marked the period of his 
entry into the political arena had left some scars on other 
breasts, they seemed to have left none on his own. 

The shafts of envy and malice had fallen hurtless, and his 
worth and high character had so impressed themselves on the 
people that in his last election he was unopposed by any 
competitor, and those who had at one time been his most 
bitter antagonists had been won to be warm friends, or 
acquiescent opponents, who had no ill for him. In the zenith 
of his fame and height of his usefulness he has been stricken 
down. We can not understand why these things are so: we 
can not lift the veil to find out why such a man should be 
taken and so many thousands less useful and less worthy 
should remain. We can not realize why the cords of love and 
devotion which bound him to life should have been snapped so 
ruthlessly. 

The journey of life is full of these mysteries. We come into 
the world unbidden, or rather without having been consulted: 
we are hurried hence, often without warning and suddenly, 
without any power of resistance. We come and go like 
shadows and we know not why these things are so. Life is a 



88 Life and Character of J. William Stokes. 

battle from beginning to end, and the grave is the only place of 
rest. We are all hastening to it, and many are unconsciously 
very, very near its brink. 

It is philosophical to think about death calmly, but the law 
of life makes us shun and dread it and put off to the very last 
tlie thought of the time when we shall bid adieu to this active 
scene. By common consent, all men, both ancient and modern, 
civilized and uncivilized, heathens and savages, have refused to 
accept death as an "unending sleep." The idea of annihila- 
tion is so abhorrent that the human soul recoils with terror 
from such an ending. Tennyson has most beautifully 
expressed the feeling of mingled fear and hope pulsating in 
our hearts when he says: 

yet we trust that somehow good 

Will be tlie final goal of ill, 

To pangs of nature, sins of will. 
Defects of doubt, and taints of blood; 

That nothing walks with aimless feet; 

That not one life shall be destroyed, 

Or east as rubbish to the void, 
When God hath made the pile complete; 

That not a worm is cloven in vain; 

That not a moth with vain desire 

Is shriveled in a fruitless fire, 
Or but subserves another's gain. 

Behold we know not anything; 

I can but trust that good shall fall 

At last — far off — at last to all, 
And every winter change to spring. 
* * * * 

Strong Sou of God, immortal Love, 

Whom we that have not seen Thv face. 

By faith, and faith alone, embrace, 
Believing where we can not prove: 

Thou wilt not leave us in the dust; 

Thou tnadest man he knows not \\h\ ; 

He thinks he was not made t<> die; 
And Then hast made him: Thou art just. 



Address of Mr. Tillman, of South Carolina. 89 

In that blessed reunion to which every human soul looks, in 
the bright hereafter, ' ' When the wicked cease from troubling 
and the weary are at rest," may our friend and his loved ones 
left here be reunited; and may we all so live that when we come 
to die we shall have as few sins to answer for as the man in 
whose memory we speak to-day. His was indeed a noble and 
pure life, and in all my dealings with men I have never known 
one who more deserved to have it said of him — 

And thus he bore without abuse 

The grand old name of "gentleman." 



i • Life and Character of J. William Slakes. 



ADDRESS OF MR. MCLAURIN, OF SOUTH CAROL. 

Mr. President: Death is always an unwelcome visitor ami 
generally surprises us in the midst of the duties and schemes 
which are engrossing our lives. A noble and useful life is often 
ended in the heyday of its success and prosperity. It is well 
that it is so, for if we were permitted to control our mortal des- 
tiny we could never conveniently fix a time when we would 
travel to that "bourn from whence no traveler returns." 

It is passing strange that we have the courage, energy, and 
persistency to pursue so hopefully the aims of this life, when 
we are so constantly reminded that at any moment the "silver 
cord may be loosed and the golden bowl broken." 

The inspiration of hope obscures the shadow of the grave 
and impels us forward upon our earthly careers. Without this, 
"death on the pale horse " would at every moment cross our 
pathway and overwhelm us with gloom. 

But with all of our fears of death there is mixed a fixed belief 
in the immortality of the soul, and that after the struggles and 
cares of this life there is "rest for the weary." Revealed 
religion teaches us that death is but the exit from this life into 
an everlasting heaven of unalloyed happiness. By its clear 
light alone can we see that man's mission in this world is to 
build and progress, to lift himself from a high to a higher plane 
of existence, and to constantly take into his soul and life more 
of that justice and charity which are to be his divine estate in 
the great beyond. Some day this great battle that has raged 
in the breast of each, between our brute natures and our immor- 
tal souls, will be over, and our discordant natures brought into 
harmony with the Spirit that controls all things in this great 



Address of Mr. McLaurin, of So///// Carolina. yi 

universe, and then, if we have made a good fight, the immortal 
spirit rises triumphant over mortal flesh, and. looking toward 
heaven, finds the burden easy and the upward pathway filled 
with light. 

The death of Dr. J. William Stokes, the Christian gentle- 
man, the useful citizen, and faithful Congressman, in the 
meridian of his life work and the midst of. his public duties, 
makes us all feel that he lived as he should have lived, and 
that his translation from this life of care and sorrow was to one 
of rest and happiness in the unending future. 

Dr. Stokes was the idol of the agricultural classes in South 
Carolina. They loved him; they trusted him; they honored 
him, and they now revere his memory. He came from their 
ranks and rose to high position in the State, and by their 
unswerving confidence and influence was transferred from the 
arena of State to the wider sphere of national politics. In 
every position in which he was placed he was true to his people 
and to the principles of which he was a living exponent. 

When the Alliance movement materialized into a compact 
an<l influential organization he was one of the leaders in South 
Carolina, and by his aggressiveness and fidelity to its princi- 
ples contributed largely toward making it the controlling factor 
in State politics. He was placed at the head of the State 
organization, and under his leadership it became a great edu- 
cator of the masses, inspiring a spirit of independence of 
thought and action which to some extent at least destroyed 
party tyranny and gave, in a measure, political freedom to the 
people. 

Tbe Alliance movement may have given rise to man? 
"isms" in the politics of this country, and it has been derided 
as demagogery of the vilest type, but it is an undeniable fact 
that in the South it awakened the slumbering masses and gave 
to them freedom from party shackles, and created a wider 



9 2 Life and Character of J. William Stokes. 

interest in national affairs. In South Carolina it removed 
barriers which had existed for years between classes, broke 
down the traditions of a century, and delivered the people from 
the oligarchical rule which had controlled the material and 
political destiny of the State from the close of the Revolution- 
ary war. 

It was a part of the new era of progress in directing atten- 
tion to needed reforms, and to the importance of developing 
the material resources of the State. Dr. Stokes, in the 
beginning, was one of the guiding spirits in this popular 
uprising, and well may he have felt that his life's work had 
left its enduring impress upon the fortunes of his native State. 
As a public man. Dr. Stokks was pure, modest, and faithful to 
his creed of principles. He was candid and open in all he did, 
as firm as adamant in his convictions, and full of an unselfish 
patriotism. 

His straightforward and manly course commended him to 
public confidence, and made him hosts of friends who continued 
him in Congress for several terms. 

As a Representative, he was content to be a working rather 
than a speaking member. In committee and departmental 
work he was industrious and faithful. No request from a 
constituent was ever neglected nor his interest allowed to 
suffer if Dr. Stokks could prevent it. His most conspicuous 
work in Congress was in connection with the establishment of 
rural mail service. His whole soul and energies were in this 
work, because he felt that this would be to the masse- 
another step in the great educational work commenced by 
him as president of the State Alliance. The record of Dr. 
Stokes in Congress will always stand as a testimonial to his 
faithfulness as a Representative not only to his own constitu- 
ency, but to the country people everywhere. 



Address of Mr. McLaurin, of South Carolina. 93 

As a private citizen, Dr. Stokes was generous and loyal, 
ever ready to make sacrifices for the comfort and happiness of 
others. In whatever position he was placed he never failed to 
follow his convictions as to right and duty. He was a gentle- 
man in the highest sense of the term, honorable, cultivated, 
and refined; all of his instincts were high, and elevating to 
those who came into contact with him. 

His people mourn his loss and will ever keep in remembrance 
the shining virtues and unselfish life which made J. William 
Storks a truly good man, a useful citizen and Representative. 

The Presiding Officer. The question is on agreeing to 
the resolutions submitted by the Senator from South Carolina 
[Mr. Tillman]. 

The resolutions were unanimously agreed to; and 1 at 4 
o'clock and 25 minutes p. m.) the Senate adjourned until 
Monday, June 16, 1902, at 11 o'clock a. m. 



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